At the COP28 U.N. climate convergence in Dubai, UAE, Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu delivered a discourse [File: Rafiq Maqbool/AP]
With public ire surging due to the Gaza conflict, the Maldives, famed for its opulent resorts and pristine beaches, is set to prohibit entry to Israeli nationals.
“A prohibition on Israeli passports will be instituted,” declared a spokesperson for President Mohamed Muizzu, although precise details on the enforcement timeline remain undisclosed.
Additionally, Muizzu unveiled a national fundraiser titled “Maldivians in Solidarity with Palestine.” Last year, Israelis accounted for 0.6 percent of the archipelago’s tourists, numbering nearly 11,000.
Recent statistics reveal a stark decline in Israeli visits, with only 528 making the trip in this year’s initial four months, an 88 percent plummet from the prior year’s equivalent span.
Both friends and foes of the government are nudging President Muizzu to enact the ban to voice opposition to the strife in Gaza. Since October 7, there have been 36,439 Palestinians reported slain, with 82,627 injuries documented.
‘We’re good’
The Maldives had retracted a former ban on Israeli visitors in the 1990s and rekindled diplomatic ties in 2010. However, these normalization efforts derailed after President Mohamed Nasheed was ousted in February 2012.
In reaction to the latest ban, an Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson advised Israelis in the Maldives to consider exiting: “In an emergency, assistance from us might be compromised,” he detailed.
Entry into Algeria, Bangladesh, Brunei, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Yemen is likewise barred for Israeli passport holders.
Following a post on X this March regarding these longstanding travel restrictions, Israel nonchalantly retorted: “We’re good,” in the midst of new war tensions in Gaza.
SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES
