MAL, Maldives, June 3, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - The Indian Ocean nation of the
Maldives will ban Israelis from the luxury tourist hot spot, the office of
the president said Sunday, announcing a national rally in "solidarity with
Palestine".

The Maldives, a tiny Islamic republic of more than 1,000 strategically
located coral islets, is known for its secluded sandy white beaches, shallow
turquoise lagoons and Robinson Crusoe-style getaways.

President Mohamed Muizzu has "resolved to impose a ban on Israeli passports,"
a spokesman for his office said in a statement, without giving details of
when the new law would take effect.

Muizzu also announced a national fundraising campaign called "Maldivians in
Solidarity with Palestine".

The Maldives had lifted a previous ban on Israeli tourists in the early 1990s
and moved to restore relations in 2010.

However, normalisation attempts were scuttled following the toppling of
president Mohamed Nasheed in February 2012.

Opposition parties and government allies in the Maldives have been putting
pressure on Muizzu to ban Israelis, as a sign of protest against the Gaza
war.

Official data showed the number of Israelis visiting the Maldives dropped to
528 in the first four months of this year, down 88 percent compared to the
corresponding period last year.

The war was sparked by Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel,
which resulted in the deaths of 1,189 people, mostly civilians, according to
an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.

Militants also took 252 hostages, 121 of whom remain in Gaza, including 37
the army says are dead.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 36,379 people in Gaza,
mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.