US State Department stops issuing visitor visa used for medical trips from Gaza

The shift in stance of the State Department towards medical visas comes after far right activist Laura Loomer criticised the programme and urged President Donald Trump’s administration to “shut this abomination down.”

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.

— Department of State (@StateDept) August 16, 2025

In a message posted on X, the State Department said “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.”

🚨 BREAKING 🚨

Following the release of my reports yesterday exposing flights of GAZANS arriving at airports all across the US, the US State Department just announced that “All visitor visas for individuals from Gaza are being stopped” while the US @StateDept “conducts a full… https://t.co/mI5APTairz

— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) August 16, 2025

After the State Department’s decision to temporarily pause the issuance of visas for Gaza people, activist Loomer took credit for it and thanked Secretary of State Marco Rubio for it.

As per the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund, the group has reportedly been able to evacuate 169 children from Gaza in 2024 as part of its programme called treatment abroad. The group brought the rescued children to Europe, South Africa, and the US for care.

The war between Israel and Gaza based Hamas militant group began in October 2023 after Hamas’ surprise attack on Tel Aviv. In retaliation, Israel has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to Hamas-run Gaza health ministry. The war has also destroyed much of the medical infrastructure in Gaza and now faces food shortages.

(with inputs from BBC)