Travel ban on Israel remains, foreign policy remains unchanged: MOFA

Saying the travel ban on Israel remains for Bangladeshi passport-holders, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today posted a reaction to Israeli foreign ministry's tweet which welcomed the removal of the words "all countries except Israel" in the new booklets of e-passports.

The post on Bangladesh foreign ministry's verified Facebook page says the "removal of the observation has been done to maintain international standard of Bangladeshi e-passports and does not imply any change of Bangladesh's foreign policy towards the Middle East. The ban on travel of Bangladeshi passport holders to Israel remains unchanged."

According to the post, the Government of Bangladesh has not deviated from its position on Israel and Bangladesh remains firm on its long-standing position in this regard.

The attention of Bangladesh Ministry of Foreign Affairs was drawn following a tweet issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel welcoming the "removal of ban on travel to Israel".

"The confusion appears to have emanated from the new booklets of E-passports which do not contain the observation 'all countries except Israel'," the post added.

The Government of Bangladesh has condemned the recent atrocities inflicted upon the civilians by the occupation forces of Israel at Al-Aqsa mosque compound and in Gaza. Bangladesh reiterates its principled position concerning the two-state solution of the Palestine-Israel conflict in light of the UN resolutions recognising pre-1967 borders and East Jerusalem as the capital of the State of Palestine, the Facebook post further added.