Above photo: Court / Getty Images AsiaPac.
Israeli soldiers continue to face the threat of arrest while traveling in various countries as tourists.
The Maldives announced on 15 April an immediate ban on the entry of Israelis into the island nation in response to Israel’s ongoing genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.
President Mohamed Muizzu ratified the legislation on Tuesday after it was approved by parliament.
“The ratification reflects the government’s firm stance in response to the continuing atrocities and ongoing acts of genocide committed by Israel against the Palestinian people,” the president’s office said in a statement.
“The Maldives reaffirms its resolute solidarity with the Palestinian cause.”
The Maldives, a small Islamic republic of 1,192 strategically located coral islets in the Indian Ocean, is a popular luxury tourist destination known for its beaches.
The Maldives had lifted a prior ban on Israeli visitors in the 1990s and briefly pursued diplomatic ties in 2010.
However, domestic political pressure mounted on President Muizzu to reimpose a ban in protest of Israel’s war on Gaza.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry previously advised citizens against traveling there.
Official data showed that only 59 Israeli tourists visited the archipelago in February, among 214,000 other foreign arrivals.
In January, Israeli soldiers visiting various foreign countries as tourists began facing the risk of arrest as a result of a series of lawsuits brought by the Hind Rajab Foundation (HRF), a pro-Palestinian NGO that has tracked the activities of hundreds of Israeli soldiers serving in Gaza.
Nations that are signatories to the Rome Statute are obliged to ensure that the crimes provided for in the statute (war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide) are investigated and punished.
The HRF has sought the apprehension of Israeli soldiers visiting Thailand, Sri Lanka, Chile, and Brazil.
The group says it is dedicated “to breaking the cycle of Israeli impunity and honoring the memory of Hind Rajab and all those who have perished in the Gaza genocide.” Rajab was a five-year-old girl who was killed by Israeli tank fire while in her family’s car in Gaza.
Gaza’s Health Ministry said on Sunday that at least 1,613 Palestinians had been killed since 18 March, when Israel unilaterally ended a ceasefire reached in January. At least 50,983 have been killed since the start of the war in October 2023. However, thousands more are believed dead, their bodies trapped under the rubble of bombed or demolished buildings.