US announces it is ‘denying and revoking visas’ for Palestinian officials ahead of UN General Assembly
Representatives attend a meeting of the UN Security Council on the Israel-Palestinian conflict at the UN Headquarters in New York on August 27.
By Jennifer Hansler, CNN
(CNN) — The US State Department is “denying and revoking visas” from members of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) – a significant step ahead of the UN General Assembly, where multiple traditional US allies are expected to recognize a Palestinian state.
According to Friday’s announcement from the State Department, the Palestinian Authority’s Mission to the UN “will receive waivers per the UN Headquarters Agreement.”
However, the restrictions could prevent the attendance of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Refusing him a visa would be highly controversial and would appear to violate the UN Headquarters Agreement. The United Nations recognizes Palestine as a non-member observer state.
The policy is likely to severely limit the presence of Palestinian officials at the annual global summit as the war in Gaza continues and a number of key allies prepare to recognize a Palestinian state.
“Today the Trump Administration is announcing it will deny and revoke visas from members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA) ahead of the upcoming UN General Assembly per U.S. law,” State Department deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott said on X.
“Before we take them seriously as partners in peace, the PA and PLO must completely reject terrorism and stop counterproductively pursuing the unilateral recognition of a hypothetical state,” he said.
CNN has asked for more details about the announcement, including how many will have their visas revoked.
Asked about the announcement, Palestinian ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour said Friday, “we will see exactly what it means and how it applies to any of our delegation, and we will respond accordingly.”
In a statement Friday, the Palestinian presidency expressed “deep regret and astonishment at the US State Department’s decision not to grant visas to the Palestinian delegation participating in the UN General Assembly meetings next September.” The statement called on the US to “reconsider and reverse its decision.”
Israeli officials, including Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and UN Ambassador Danny Danon, praised the move.
In July, the State Department announced sanctions that would deny visas to the US to unnamed PA and PLO officials.
The move also appears to be a further step to punish those involved in international tribunals’ probes of alleged crimes committed by Israel.
“The PA must also end its attempts to bypass negotiations through international lawfare campaigns, including appeals to the ICC and ICJ, and efforts to secure the unilateral recognition of a conjectural Palestinian state,” Friday’s statement said.
CNN’s Ibrahim Dahman and Tamar Michaelis contributed to this report.
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