The US State Department announced it was halting all visitor visas for people from Gaza, BBC reported.

The pause was issued to 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 agency said on X.

The decision has drawn condemnation from some Palestinian rights groups, according to BBC.

Palestine Children's Relief Fund said in a statement that the decision "will have a devastating and irreversible impact on our ability to bring injured and critically ill children from Gaza to the United States for lifesaving medical treatment".