U.S. halts medical visas for Gaza children ahead of Israeli invasion
Washington, August 18.- The U.S. State Department is no longer issuing visas for children from Gaza to receive necessary medical care, a move that comes as Israel’s genocidal war and induced famine in the strip reach new extremes, with over 61,800 killed so far.
This comes after Israel said it intended to launch a new onslaught to occupy northern Gaza City, the besieged territory’s largest urban center, in a plan that raised international alarm over the fate of the demolished strip, home to about 2.2 million people.
“All visitor visas for individuals from Gaza are being stopped while we conduct a full and thorough review of the process and procedures used to issue a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas in recent days,” the State Department wrote in a post on X on Saturday.
It comes a day after an online pressure campaign led by Laura Loomer, a far-right activist and Donald Trump ally. Loomer, who has described herself as “a proud Islamophobe,” posted on X that Palestinians “who claim to be refugees from Gaza” entered the US via San Francisco and Houston this month.
“How is allowing for Islamic immigrants to come into the US America First policy?” she said on X in a later post, going on to report further Palestinian arrivals in Missouri and claiming that “several U.S. Senators and members of Congress” had texted her to express their fury.
“Is Rubio even aware of this?” Loomer wrote, in reference to the secretary of state who was at the time in Alaska meeting Vladimir Putin.
After the suspension of the visa program, Loomer claimed victory. “This is fantastic news,” she wrote in response to the state department announcement. “Hopefully all GAZANS will be added to President Trump’s travel ban. There are doctors in other countries. The U.S. is not the world’s hospital!”
The U.S. issued 640 visas to holders of the Palestinian Authority travel document in May, according to the Reuters news agency. B1/B2 visitor visas permit Palestinians to seek medical treatment in the US.
Republican Congressman Randy Fine openly praised Loomer following the announcement of the visa change, indicating her influence on certain US policies. “Massive credit needs to be given to @LauraLoomer for uncovering this and making me and other officials aware. Well done, Laura,” Fine wrote on X.
The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, a charity based in the United States, urged the Trump administration to “reverse this dangerous and inhumane decision.”
Over the past three decades, the charity has facilitated the evacuation of thousands of Palestinian children to the United States for medical treatment, as stated in their announcement. “Medical evacuations are a lifeline for the children of Gaza who would otherwise face unimaginable suffering or death due to the collapse of medical infrastructure in Gaza.”
The Council on Islamic-American Relations said the block on visas was “the latest sign that the intentional cruelty of President Trump’s ‘Israel First’ administration knows no bounds” and added that it was “deeply ironic” that the Trump administration was meanwhile “rolling out the red carpet for racists and indicted war criminals from” the Israeli regime.
“This ban is just the latest example of our government’s complicity with Israel’s genocide, which is increasingly rejected by the American people,” it continued.
Paul Graham, co-founder of the Silicon Valley startup incubator Y Combinator, wrote on X after the visa halt was announced, “If Laura Loomer had been around in 1940, she’d have been trying to prevent Jewish refugees from entering the US. You know she would. And if Trump had been president then, she’d have succeeded.”
At least 61,897 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and another 155,660 indiduals have been injured in the brutal Israeli onslaught on Gaza since October 7, 2023, according to the Gaza health ministry. (Take from Radio Habana Cuba)
