US Halts All Visitor Visas for Gaza

The State Department announced on Saturday that it was halting all visitor visas to individuals from Gaza while it reviews the issuing process.

"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," a post on X from the State Department read.

Neither the State Department nor Secretary of State Marco Rubio commented on what triggered the sudden review.

In June, the Trump administration began cracking down on vetting for visa applicants. This involved the introduction of a "comprehensive and thorough" review of all applicants' "online presence."

"Every visa adjudication is a national security decision. The United States must be vigilant during the visa issuance process to ensure that those applying for admission into the United States do not intend to harm Americans and our national interests, and that all applicants credibly establish their eligibility for the visa sought, including that they intend to engage in activities consistent with the terms for their admission," the State Department said at the time.

Earlier this month, France suspended evacuations from Gaza after a Palestinian student allegedly shared a social media post with an image of Adolf Hitler that called for killing Jews.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told France Info radio that the woman "must leave the country" and that she "has no place" in France.

"No evacuation of any kind will take place until we have drawn the necessary conclusions from this investigation," Barrot said in the interview. He also vowed there would be a probe into how the Palestinian woman was able to get a student visa.

The student, later identified as Nour Attaalah, left France for Qatar after the incident.

As of Jan. 1, 2025, the population in Gaza had dropped by 6% since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war in October 2023, according to Reuters, which cited the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS). The outlet noted that this includes approximately 100,000 Palestinians who fled the enclave.