The United States (US) has suspended the issuance of visitor visas for people from Gaza after far-right activist Laura Loomer publicized videos she claimed showed evacuees arriving at American airports.
In a statement posted on X, the State Department confirmed: “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.”
Loomer, a vocal Trump supporter, posted multiple times on Friday about Heal Palestine, a humanitarian NGO that arranges evacuations of injured Gazans for medical treatment abroad.
According to the group, it has evacuated 148 people, including 63 injured children. In July, it coordinated what it described as the largest single evacuation of wounded children to the US, including 11 in critical condition.
Among those rescued were Seba, 12, who lost both legs in a school bombing, and Anas, eight, the sole survivor of an airstrike that killed his entire family.
Loomer took credit for the visa suspension, claiming it was triggered by her reporting. “The Trump administration needs to shut this abomination down ASAP before a family member of one of these Gazans goes rogue and kills Americans for Hamas,” she wrote.
She also called for officials who approved the visas to be dismissed. Her posts were amplified by Republican lawmakers, including Congressman Chip Roy and Florida legislator Randy Fine.
The move comes amid growing international concern over conditions in Gaza. On Saturday, a baby girl and her parents were reportedly killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Muwasi area, one of the most densely populated zones where Israel is planning to expand operations.
The United Nations has warned of catastrophic hunger levels in the enclave, with contaminated water, disease outbreaks, and mounting malnutrition. Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry reported 11 further malnutrition-related deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 251 since the war began.
According to the UN, at least 1,760 Palestinians have been killed while seeking food aid between late May and last week. Humanitarian groups continue to warn that aid delivery remains nearly impossible due to Israeli restrictions and the sheer desperation of the population.
