By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S.-based charity HEAL Palestine and other rights groups criticized the State Department’s decision to stop visitor visas for Palestinians from Gaza, saying it will harm wounded children seeking medical treatment on short-term U.S. visas.
The State Department said on Saturday it was halting all visitor visas for Gazans while it conducted “a full and thorough” review, after far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer said Palestinian refugees were entering the U.S.
HEAL Palestine said there was no refugee resettlement program as stated by Loomer and that the group’s efforts were part of a medical treatment program. It also said the program was run on donations and did not use U.S. government money.
The charity sponsored and brought “severely injured children to the U.S. on temporary visas for essential medical treatment not available at home,” it said in a statement.
“After their treatment is complete, the children and any accompanying family members return to the Middle East.”
The U.S. has issued more than 3,800 B1/B2 visitor visas, which permit foreigners to seek medical treatment in the U.S., to holders of Palestinian Authority travel documents so far in 2025. That figure includes 640 visas issued in May.
The Palestinian Authority issues travel documents to residents of the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza.
The State Department said a small number of temporary medical-humanitarian visas were issued to people from Gaza in recent days but did not provide a figure.
The Council on American Islamic Relations and the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund condemned the decision to stop the visas.
Loomer told the New York Times she spoke to Secretary of State Marco Rubio to warn about what she called a threat from “Islamic invaders.”
Rubio said the government was evaluating the process of granting such visas after concerns by some members of Congress regarding alleged ties to extremism. He said their offices had presented evidence of such ties but he gave no details.
Gaza has been devastated by Israel’s military assault, which has killed tens of thousands, caused a hunger crisis, and prompted genocide and war crimes accusations at international courts.
The U.S. ally denies the accusations and says its offensive is in self-defense after an October 2023 attack in Israel by Hamas militants in which 1,200 were killed and about 250 taken hostage.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Edmund Klamann)
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