 "Palestinians carry aid supplies that entered Gaza through Israel, in Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip. Reuters")
The United States government announced on Saturday that it is suspending visitor visas for people from Gaza, after a far-right influencer with close ties to President Donald Trump criticised the admission of wounded Palestinians for medical treatment.
The move followed a series of angry social media posts by Laura Loomer, who has previously promoted racist conspiracy theories and falsely claimed the 9/11 attacks were an inside job.
“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, led by Marco Rubio, posted on X.
On Friday, Loomer had urged the department to halt visas for Palestinians from Gaza, alleging they were “pro-HAMAS… affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood and funded by Qatar,” though she offered no evidence.
Her criticism was directed at the US-based charity HEAL Palestine, which last week said it had facilitated the arrival of 11 severely injured children from Gaza, along with their caregivers and siblings, for treatment in American hospitals.
The charity described it as “the largest single medical evacuation of injured children from Gaza to the US.”