Maldives to bar Israeli passport holders from entering country

By Seda Sevencan

ISTANBUL (AA) – The Maldives has decided to impose a ban on Israeli citizens entering the island nation over Tel Aviv’s ongoing war in Gaza.

“President Dr Mohamed Muizzu, following a recommendation from the Cabinet, has resolved to impose a ban on Israeli passports,” the president's office said in a statement.

The decision includes amending necessary laws to prevent Israeli passport holders from entering the Maldives and establishing a Cabinet subcommittee to oversee these efforts.

In addition to the ban, Muizzu will appoint a special envoy to assess the needs of the Palestinians and launch a fundraising campaign with the help of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip in retaliation for the Oct. 7 Hamas incursion, which killed some 1,200 people.

More than 36,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel began its onslaught nearly eight months ago. Most of those killed are women and children, with over 82,000 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Vast tracts of Gaza lay in ruins amid Israel's crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war.