The US State Department said Saturday it has halted issuance of all visitor visas for individuals from Gaza while it conducts “a full and thorough review” of how recent medical-humanitarian visas were granted. The pause, announced by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, affects B1/B2 visas that allow foreigners to travel for treatment in the United States. The department disclosed that only a “small number” of such visas had been approved in recent days, but government data show more than 3,800 visitor visas have been issued to holders of Palestinian Authority travel documents so far this year. The move followed online claims by far-right activist Laura Loomer that Palestinians arriving for medical care posed a security risk, a view echoed by Republican Representatives Chip Roy of Texas and Randy Fine of Florida. Rubio told CBS’s “Face the Nation” the review will determine whether any visa applicants or sponsoring groups have links to Hamas, saying, “We are not going to be in partnership with groups that are friendly with Hamas.” Human-rights and Palestinian advocacy organisations condemned the suspension. HEAL Palestine, which recently arranged travel for 11 severely injured children, warned the freeze makes it “impossible” to bring more patients for treatment. The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund said the policy would have “devastating and irreversible” effects on its three-decade mission of evacuating wounded and critically ill children. The Council on American-Islamic Relations called the decision another example of the Trump administration’s “intentional cruelty.” The visa halt comes against the backdrop of Israel’s war with Hamas, now in its 23rd month. Gaza health officials say more than 61,000 Palestinians have been killed since the conflict erupted after Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attack that left 1,200 people dead in Israel. The United States has not indicated any willingness to accept larger numbers of Palestinians displaced by the fighting. The State Department has not said how long the review will take or whether previously issued visas will be revoked.