US denies Mahmoud Abbas visa for UN General Assembly
The State Department said visas would also be denied to Palestinian Liberation Organisation and Palestinian Authority officials, citing alleged failures to reform and actions it said weaken peace prospects.
The United States has denied Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas an entry visa to attend next week’s United Nations General Assembly in New York, according to France 24, citing a source familiar with the matter.
The State Department said separately that visas would be denied to members of the Palestine Liberation Organisation and officials of the Palestinian Authority. The department said the measure followed an alleged failure to meet commitments to Washington and activities it said undermined prospects for peace.
The department accused the organisations of pursuing action through the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice, seeking unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state and continuing payments or public statements it linked to terrorism. Those claims were presented by the US State Department and were not independently established in the source material.
A source familiar with the matter confirmed to AFP that Abbas was covered by the measure, although the State Department statement did not name him directly. The decision is expected to prevent him from attending the General Assembly in person.
The Trump administration took the same step last year, when Abbas addressed the assembly by video. The latest decision places Washington at odds with countries including France, which recognised a Palestinian state at the United Nations last year. A total of 142 UN member states endorsed the move after a France-Saudi Arabia co-chaired conference on a two-state solution.
The decision comes amid intensified violence in the occupied West Bank since the Hamas-led attack of 7 October 2023 and the ensuing Gaza war. Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, according to the report.
