At a press briefing on Sunday, Ihusan said the decision was taken at a cabinet meeting held earlier in the day following local calls for sanctions on Israeli citizens due to the devastating attacks in Gaza, Xinhua news agency reported.

He said the government would make legal amendments to implement the ban and a special committee had been appointed to speed up the process.

According to local media, the Maldives receive more than one million tourists per year, of which an estimated 15,000 are from Israel.