State Department Halts All Visitor Visas for Gazans, Launches Investigation Into Medical Visits

The decision to suspend all visitor visas for Gazans follows scrutiny of recent flights arriving in San Francisco and Houston.

Palestinians carry bags filled with food and humanitarian aid provided by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a U.S.-backed organization approved by Israel, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on June 3, 2025. Abdel Kareem Hana/AP

The U.S. State Department halted all visitor visas for individuals from Gaza, amid a review into what the department said was a “small number” of recently-issued temporary medical-humanitarian visas.

“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,” the State Department said in a statement it shared on X on Aug. 16.