Bangladesh has restored an “except Israel” inscription on passports, local media reported Sunday, effectively barring its citizens from traveling to Israel.

Israel is a flashpoint issue in Muslim-majority Bangladesh, which does not recognize it.

The phrase “valid for all countries except Israel,” which was printed on Bangladeshi passports for decades, was removed in 2021 during the later years of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s tenure. However, Hasina’s government at the time clarified that the country’s stance on Israel had not changed.

Nilima Afroze, a deputy secretary at the home ministry, told Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) news agency on Sunday that authorities had “issued a directive last week” to restore the inscription.

“The director general of the department of immigration and passport was asked to take necessary measures to implement this change,” local newspaper The Daily Star quoted Afroze as saying Sunday.

The Bengladeshi population’s support for an independent Palestinian state was visible on Saturday when around 100,000 people gathered in Dhaka in solidarity with Gaza.

Demonstrators beat the images of US President Donald Trump, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi because of their support for Israel.

Symbolic coffins and effigies representing civilian casualties in Gaza were also carried during the rally.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, headed by former prime minister Khaleda Zia, and other Islamist groups and parties expressed their solidarity with the rally.

The war in Gaza broke out on October 7, 2023, when Hamas-led terrorists invaded Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251.

A fragile ceasefire between the warring parties fell apart last month. Since then, the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry has said that at least 1,574 Palestinians have been killed. This figure cannot be independently verified and does not differentiate between civilians and combatants.

Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools and mosques.