A US-based aid group, Heal Palestine, has expressed distress over the US State Department’s decision to halt the issuance of visitor visas for Palestinians seeking medical treatment in America.
The move comes after far-right influencer Laura Loomer, who describes herself as a “proud Islamophobe,” complained directly to Secretary of State Marco Rubio about the group’s work.
Heal Palestine, an American humanitarian nonprofit organization, provides urgent aid and medical care to children in Palestine, including sponsoring severely injured children to receive essential medical treatment in the US not available in their home country.
The charity emphasized that after treatment is complete, the children and their accompanying family members return to the Middle East, refuting Loomer’s claim of a secret “Islamic immigration” wave.
“This is a medical treatment program, not a refugee resettlement program,” the aid group stressed, highlighting the temporary nature of the visas.
The decision to stop issuing medical-humanitarian visas to visitors from Gaza was made after concerns were raised by numerous congressional offices about alleged links between groups acquiring these visas and terrorist groups like Hamas. Rubio did not provide evidence to support these allegations.
Loomer attempted to link Heal Palestine’s founder, Steve Sosebee, to Hamas on social media by referencing his efforts to reopen a hospital in Gaza that Israel’s military had destroyed, alleging Hamas used it for cover.
She also criticized Sosebee for praising the late Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer, who had joked about a debunked claim regarding an Israeli baby killed in the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023.
The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, another group founded by Sosebee, had brought a two-year-old Palestinian girl named Rahaf and her mother, Israa Saed, from Gaza to St. Louis, Missouri, for medical treatment in December.
After being fitted with prosthetic legs, Rahaf met and danced with children’s presenter Ms. Rachel.
Loomer’s influence extends beyond her complaint, as she is followed on social media by senior administration officials, including Rubio, JD Vance, Pete Hegseth, Kash Patel, and Stephen Miller, and is in frequent contact with Trump.
Two Republican members of Congress, Chip Roy and Randy Fine, thanked Loomer for bringing attention to the medical visas, with Roy celebrating the suspension as a first step and Fine suggesting the visas were issued by “deep state actors.”
The suspension of medical visas for Gaza children has sparked concern, given the dire need for medical care in the region.
The situation highlights the complexities and challenges faced by humanitarian organizations working in conflict zones.
