US Embassy in Tunisia Closes Its Doors for Security Concerns

Workers clean the site of an explosion in the center of the Tunisian capital Tunis, Tunisia October 29, 2018. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi
Workers clean the site of an explosion in the center of the Tunisian capital Tunis, Tunisia October 29, 2018. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi
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US Embassy in Tunisia Closes Its Doors for Security Concerns

Workers clean the site of an explosion in the center of the Tunisian capital Tunis, Tunisia October 29, 2018. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi
Workers clean the site of an explosion in the center of the Tunisian capital Tunis, Tunisia October 29, 2018. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi

The US Embassy in Tunisia closed doors to the public on Monday due to security reasons.

“Due to security concerns, the US Embassy will be closed to the public on Monday, July 1st, except for emergency services,” it said in a statement.

The embassy is located about five kilometers from the center of the capital, Tunis. Its decision was most likely taken after receiving security and intelligence reports on the movement of terrorist elements.

It came a few days after two separate suicide bombing attacks hit the capital and left a policeman killed and eight others injured amid continued threats of terrorist acts.

Although it didn’t explain the actual reasons behind its decision and the nature of security concerns, yet Tunisian specialists in extremist groups said being cautious is the best that could be one in this case.

The embassy took a precautionary decision, taking into account that it did not protect itself well during the terrorist attack in 2012.

It didn’t take precautionary measures back then to prevent the entrance of extremist elements to the building.

Masses of demonstrators, mostly members of the banned Ansar al-Sharia organization led by Tunisian terrorist Saifullah bin Hussein, aka Abu Iyaad, headed on Friday, September 14, 2012 to the US Embassy in Tunis to protest against the film, Persepolis, which depicts Prophet Muhammad and offends Islam and was directed in the United States.

Demonstrators threw stones at the US diplomatic mission before storming the building and burning part of it.

The American school in the vicinity of the embassy's headquarters was also set on fire, and it was vandalized and looted.

The US mission in Tunisia demanded huge financial compensation, which sparked controversy within the Tunisian parliament.



One in 10 Children Screened in UNRWA Clinics are Malnourished

Palestinians wait to receive food from a charity kitchen, amid a hunger crisis, in Gaza City, July 14, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Palestinians wait to receive food from a charity kitchen, amid a hunger crisis, in Gaza City, July 14, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
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One in 10 Children Screened in UNRWA Clinics are Malnourished

Palestinians wait to receive food from a charity kitchen, amid a hunger crisis, in Gaza City, July 14, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Palestinians wait to receive food from a charity kitchen, amid a hunger crisis, in Gaza City, July 14, 2025. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa

One in 10 children screened in clinics run by the United Nations refugee agency in Gaza since 2024 has been malnourished, the agency said on Tuesday.

"Our health teams are confirming that malnutrition rates are increasing in Gaza, especially since the siege was tightened more than four months ago on the second of March," UNRWA's Director of Communications, Juliette Touma, told reporters in Geneva via a video link from Amman, Jordan.

Since January 2024, UNRWA said it had screened more than 240,000 boys and girls under the age of five in its clinics, adding that before the war, acute malnutrition was rarely seen in the Gaza Strip.

"One nurse that we spoke to told us that in the past, he only saw these cases of malnutrition in textbooks and documentaries," Reuters quoted Touma as saying.

"Medicine, nutrition supplies, hygiene material, fuel are all rapidly running out," Touma said.

On May 19, Israel lifted an 11-week aid blockade on Gaza, allowing limited UN deliveries to resume. However, UNRWA continues to be banned from bringing aid into the enclave.

Israel and the United States have accused Palestinian militant group Hamas of stealing from UN-led aid operations - which Hamas denies. They have instead set up the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, using private US security and logistics firms to transport aid to distribution hubs, which the UN has refused to work with.

On Monday, UNICEF said that last month more than 5,800 children were diagnosed with malnutrition in Gaza, including more than 1,000 children with severe, acute malnutrition. It said it was an increase for the fourth month in a row.