DE Online Desk:
The Maldives has formally announced that Israeli passport holders are prohibited from entering the country until Israel ends its genocide in Gaza, according to Arab News.
The decision is an obvious translation for Maldives’ resolute solidarity with the Palestinian people and its strong condemnation for Israel’s ongoing attacks on Gaza.
“The Maldives reaffirms its resolute solidarity with the Palestinian cause,” the official statement said.
The parliament approved the decision on Tuesday and then President Mohamed Muizzu ratified the legislation.
“The ratification reflects the government’s firm stance in response to the continuing atrocities and ongoing acts of genocide committed by Israel against the Palestinian people,” the president’s office said in a statement.
Importantly, the ban goes into effect immediately, a spokesman for Muizzu’s office told AFP.
Based on official data, only 59 Israeli tourists visited the Maldives in February.
It is worth mentioning that the country lifted a previous ban on Israeli tourists in the early 1990s. However, the Maldives restored relations again in 2010.
Recently, government allies and opposition parties have been urging the president to ban Israelis from entering the country as an expression of supporting Palestinian people and a rejection to Israel’s bloody war in Gaza.
In 2024, Israel also advised its citizens to never travel to the Maldives.
Since the beginning of Hamas-Israel War in Gaza, the Israeli occupation has killed at least 50,983 Palestinians and wounded more than 115,338, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.