Maldives bans Israelis to show ‘resolute solidarity’ with Palestinians amid Gaza war
Legislation approved by parliament, ratified by president, and takes immediate effect
The Maldives announced Tuesday it was banning the entry of Israelis from the luxury tourist archipelago in “resolute solidarity” with the Palestinian people.
President Mohamed Muizzu ratified the legislation shortly after it was approved by parliament on Tuesday.
“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,” his office said in a statement. Israel has firmly rejected all accusations of genocide.
“The Maldives reaffirms its resolute solidarity with the Palestinian cause,” the statement read.
The ban will be implemented with immediate effect, a spokesman for Muizzu’s office told AFP.
The Maldives, a small Islamic republic of 1,192 strategically located coral islets, is known for its secluded white sandy beaches, shallow turquoise lagoons and Robinson Crusoe-style getaways.
Official data showed that only 59 Israeli tourists visited the archipelago in February, among 214,000 other foreign arrivals. However, nearly 11,000 Israelis visited the luxury tourist hotspot last year, accounting for a tiny 0.6 percent of the Maldives’ total tourist arrivals.
Opposition parties and government allies in the Maldives have been pressuring Muizzu to ban Israelis as a statement of opposition to the Gaza war.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry urged its citizens last year to avoid traveling to the Maldives. At the time, the Maldives government announced a cabinet decision to change laws to prevent Israeli passport holders from entering the country and also establish a subcommittee to oversee the process.
In December 2023, Israel issued a travel warning to citizens against visiting the Maldives, citing increased anti-Israel sentiment during the war with Hamas. The warning came “due to the heightened anti-Israel atmosphere, including public comments by officials.”
Israel does not have diplomatic ties with the Muslim-majority nation since they were suspended in 1974. However, Israelis have been allowed to visit the country famed for its island atolls since the Maldives lifted a previous ban on Israeli tourists in the early 1990s and moved to restore relations in 2010, though that diplomatic effort was abandoned in 2014.
The war has also impacted Israeli travel abroad in other ways. Most international airlines canceled their Tel Aviv routes as Israel came under bombardment from Gaza and Iran’s proxies in the region. In addition, anti-Israeli, pro-Palestinian groups have sought to identify Israeli service personnel while they were abroad with the aim of having them arrested on war crimes charges.
The Gaza war broke out when Palestinian terror group Hamas on October 7, 2023, led a devastating invasion of Israel in which attackers killed 1,200 people and abducted 251 hostages.
Israel responded with a military campaign to destroy Hamas, remove it from power, and secure the release of the hostages, 59 of whom remain in captivity.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry said on Sunday that the Palestinian death toll since the war began had reached 50,983. The toll cannot be verified and does not differentiate between civilians and fighters.
Israel says it has killed some 20,000 combatants in battle as of January and another 1,600 terrorists inside Israel on October 7. Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.
The Times of Israel Community.