Processing US visa applications in Saudi Arabia resumes as travel ban lifted

February 8, 2017

Riyadh, Feb 8: The US diplomatic missions in Saudi Arabia announced that they have resumed processing existing visa applications and schedule appointments for new ones after a US federal court order effectively suspending the travel ban for citizens of Muslim-majority countries imposed by President Trump.

“The US Department of State had, under the executive order, provisionally revoked all valid visas of nationals of those seven countries, with limited exceptions. That provisional revocation is now lifted, and those visas are now valid for travel to the United States if the holder is otherwise eligible,” said Johann Schmonsees, a spokesman for the US embassy here, on Tuesday.

Schmonsees said that “individuals whose visas are expired, or were canceled, must apply for a new visa at a US embassy or consulate, absent a Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) decision to grant parole or waive the visa requirement at the port of entry.”

The applicants can submit their applications at the Riyadh-based US embassy or at the Jeddah-based US Consulate.

A statement posted by the US embassy on its website said that “we are working closely with the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security and we will provide further updates as soon as information is available”.

“On Jan. 27, 2017, President Trump signed the ‘Executive Order 13769 on Protecting the Nation from Terrorist Attacks by Foreign Nationals,’ which directs us to review current screening procedures,” the statement added.

The statement further said that the US government’s screening and vetting procedures for visitors are constantly reviewed and refined to improve security and more effectively identify individuals who could pose a threat to the US.

“We welcome every opportunity to continue to review and improve our systems and procedures,” said the statement.

The US embassy, located in Riyadh in the Diplomatic Quarter, and the Jeddah consulate offer visa services from Sunday through Thursday.

The US diplomatic missions will be closed on Feb. 19, a holiday in the US, according to the US embassy website.

Trump’s order applied to Iraq, Syria, Iran, Sudan, Libya, Somalia and Yemen, all Muslim-majority countries that the administration said raise terrorism concerns.

The US State Department said last week that as many as 60,000 foreigners from those seven countries had had their visas canceled.

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Israeli army captures Rafah crossing as tanks roll in after heavy bombardment

News Network

May 7,2024

The Israeli military says it has taken full control of the Rafah crossing, which borders Egypt.

Israeli tanks took over the crossing after advancing during the night following heavy bombardment of residential areas.

The military said the crossing is now disconnected from the Salah a-Din road in eastern Rafah, which was seized before.

Tel Aviv said it would continue the operation in Rafah even after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas said it had agreed to a proposal on ceasefire in Gaza put forward by Qatari and Egyptian mediators.

Earlier, Israeli military aircraft heavily bombed Rafah accompanied with ground advances shortly after Hamas said it had accepted the ceasefire proposal.

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa and Egyptian media said Israeli military vehicles advanced towards the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt, as well as the Karem Shalom crossing with the Israeli-occupied territories.

A Palestinian security official and an Egyptian authority have told the Associated Press news agency that Israeli tanks have entered Rafah, reaching as close as 200 meters from Rafah’s border crossing with neighboring Egypt.

The Israeli military has said it was conducting “targeted strikes” against Hamas in eastern Rafah.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office has also said "Israel is continuing the operation in Rafah to exert military pressure on Hamas" in order to advance the release of captives and what it called "the other objectives of the war."

In the meantime, it described the proposal on ceasefire as "far from Israel's essential demands," but added that it would send negotiators for talks "to exhaust the potential for arriving at an agreement."

The military strikes on Rafah came ahead of talks in Egypt on Tuesday aimed at sealing a truce proposal accepted by Hamas, which was put forward by Qatari and Egyptian mediators.

According to a copy of the proposal, there will be three phases to ending Israel’s onslaught against Gaza.

The first phase calls for a complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Netzarim corridor and the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes. The second phase involves an announcement of a permanent cessation of military operations. In the last phase, there would be a complete end to the blockade of the Gaza Strip.

In return, Israel would be required to release an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners, withdraw its troops from certain regions of the Gaza Strip, and allow Palestinians to travel from the south of the coastal sliver to the north.

About 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering in Rafah, once designated a “safe zone” by the Israeli military. Palestinians are now struggling to evacuate the city, after the Israeli military dropped leaflets ordering them to leave as a large-scale assault on the city is planned.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said that a ground invasion of Rafah would be “intolerable” and called on Israel and Hamas “to go an extra mile” to reach a truce deal.

“This is an opportunity that cannot be missed, and a ground invasion in Rafah would be intolerable because of its devastating humanitarian consequences, and because of its destabilizing impact in the region,” Guterres told reporters on Monday ahead of a meeting with Italian President Sergio Mattarella in New York.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi has also warned that Israel is “jeopardizing the deal by bombing Rafah.”

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