News- Middle East: HEAL Palestine, a US-based humanitarian organization that has been evacuating severely wounded Palestinian children from Gaza, strongly condemned the US decision to halt their visas.

In a statement on Sunday, the group emphasized that it provides urgent medical aid and ensures that treated children and their accompanying family members are safely returned to Palestine.

“Our mission gives children a renewed chance at life, whether through life-saving surgery or the ability to walk again. US tax dollars do not fund this treatment,” the statement read.

The US State Department announced on Saturday that it would stop issuing visas to children from Gaza in desperate need of medical care after an online pressure campaign was launched by Laura Loomer, a far-right influencer close to Donald Trump who describes herself as “a proud Islamophobe”.

Without providing any supporting evidence, Loomer claimed on social media that HEAL Palestine "is mass importing GAZANS into the US" under the "false claim" of humanitarian aid.

The humanitarian group refuted the false claim saying, “This is a medical treatment programme, not a refugee resettlement programme.”

Humanitarian organizations and aid groups have slammed the decision, saying it blocks critically ill children from receiving lifesaving treatment in the US.

The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, a US-based charity, also called on the Trump administration to “reverse this dangerous and inhumane decision.”

“Medical evacuations are a lifeline for the children of Gaza who would otherwise face unimaginable suffering or death due to the collapse of medical infrastructure in Gaza.”

The Council on Islamic-American Relations said the block on visas was “the latest sign that the intentional cruelty of President Trump’s ‘Israel First’ administration knows no bounds” and added that it was “deeply ironic” that the Trump administration was meanwhile “rolling out the red carpet for racists and indicted war criminals from the Israeli government.”

“This ban is just the latest example of our government’s complicity with Israel’s genocide, which is increasingly rejected by the American people,” it continued.

Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and ex-UN high commissioner for human rights, recently said that Trump must realize that his country is the most complicit in the genocide in Gaza.

Since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza in October 2023, the death toll has exceeded 61,900, the majority of them women and children.

Source: Press TV