Right now, innocent children from Gaza — many of them amputees, burn victims, or cancer patients — are being denied a chance at survival. The U.S. government has paused all visitor visas for people from Gaza, effectively cutting off a critical lifeline for children who need urgent medical care unavailable at home.

This decision came not from a careful security review, but after a far-right online campaign led by self-described “Islamophobe” Laura Loomer. She publicly pressured government officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, with baseless and Islamophobic claims that these children’s visits were part of an “Islamic invasion.” Shortly afterward, the State Department halted all medical-humanitarian visas for Palestinians from Gaza.

The organization at the center of this is HEAL Palestine — a respected American nonprofit that has helped bring 63 critically injured Gazan children to the U.S. for lifesaving care in recent weeks. These are temporary medical evacuations, not refugee resettlements. Every child and family member returns home after treatment. This is not a security threat. It is a moral obligation.

The World Health Organization estimates over 14,800 people in Gaza are in urgent need of medical care that cannot be provided locally, due to the war’s devastation of hospitals and clinics. Turning away injured children at a time like this is not just heartless — it is a betrayal of American values.

We call on the U.S. State Department and Secretary Marco Rubio to reverse this decision immediately. Reinstate visitor visas for medical treatment and let these children heal. Humanitarian aid should never be a political pawn, and children’s lives should never be sacrificed to win online points.

Every moment we delay could cost another child their future. Sign this petition to demand compassion, decency, and action — before it’s too late.

Photo: Anadolu/Getty Images