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Israelis banned from luxury Indian Ocean tourist hotspot Maldives over Gaza war
- Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu has ‘resolved to impose a ban on Israeli passports’, a spokesman for his office said in a statement
- Official data showed the number of Israelis visiting the Maldives dropped 88 per cent in the first four months when compared to last year
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The Indian Ocean nation of the Maldives will ban Israelis from the luxury tourist hotspot, the office of the president said, announcing a national campaign in “solidarity with Palestine”.
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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 on Sunday, 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.
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