US Halts Gaza Visitor Visas, Blocking Even Wounded Children from Life-Saving Care

By Staff, Agencies

The US State Department has suspended the issuance of all visitor visas for Palestinians from Gaza, a move that effectively prevents even critically wounded children from accessing urgent medical treatment abroad.

In a statement 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.”

According to official figures, between January and May 2025, a total of 3,804 B1/B2 visas were issued to individuals holding Palestinian Authority travel documents.

These visas typically cover purposes such as tourism, business, and medical treatment. The new suspension halts this process entirely for Gaza residents.

The decision comes as Gaza’s health system remains in collapse under the weight of “Israel’s” devastating war.

HEAL Palestine, a US-based nonprofit, highlighted one of the latest emergency cases: 11 severely injured Palestinian children and 26 family members were evacuated from Gaza to Jordan on July 30, 2025, with the World Health Organization’s assistance, and were scheduled to continue to the US for treatment in August.

“Many of the children suffer from amputations, severe burns and trauma-related complications—conditions Gaza’s destroyed medical sector cannot treat,” HEAL Palestine said.

The suspension threatens to block such life-saving transfers, further isolating Gaza’s war-wounded civilians and denying them desperately needed medical care abroad.