US again denies Palestinian leader Abbas visa to attend UN assembly
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was also denied an entry visa to attend the UN General Assembly in 2025.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- The US has denied Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas a visa to attend the UN General Assembly, citing the Palestinian Authority's failure to reform and activities undermining peace.
- The US accuses the Palestinian organisations of actions like seeking ICC involvement, unilateral recognition, and paying stipends to terrorists, worsening Israeli-Palestinian tensions.
- The decision contrasts with international recognition of Palestine by 142 UN states amid rising violence in the West Bank following the 2023 Hamas attack and ongoing Israeli military actions.
AI generated
WASHINGTON – The Palestinian Authority on Sept 17 a US decision to refuse its officials visas to attend the UN General Assembly in New York next week, a move which includes president Mahmoud Abbas according to a source familiar with the case.
In a statement that did not mention Abbas by name, the State Department said it would deny visas to members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and officials with the Palestinian Authority (PA).
It said it was “as a consequence of their failure to reform, contrary to their commitments to the United States, and their ongoing activities that undermine the prospects for peace.”
The Trump administration took the same step in 2025, forcing the Palestinian leader, a regular at the UN General Assembly, to address the body of global leadership by video.
The UN General Assembly voted on Sept 17 overwhelmingly, 152 votes to three, for Abbas to be able to appear virtually once again in 2026.
In a statement on Sept 17, which also did not mention Abbas by name, the Palestinian foreign ministry called the decision “an unjustified measure.”
It said it “runs counter to efforts to rebuild trust, develop Palestinian–US relations, and create the necessary political climate for implementing the two-state solution and achieving peace and stability.”
The ministry also “expressed its astonishment at the US statement’s disregard for the substantive reforms carried out by the State of Palestine.”
The US and Israel have objected to the PA’s historical payments to families of imprisoned or slain Palestinians, including those who carried out attacks against Israelis.
The PA recently reformed this system, allocating welfare payments to families on a needs basis rather than political affiliation or prisoner status.
Washington also accused the organisations of “taking actions to internationalise the Israeli-Palestinian conflict including through the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Court of Justice (ICJ), seeking to bypass negotiations through seeking unilateral recognition.”
They accused them of “continuing to pay stipends to terrorists and to glorify acts of terrorism and terrorists in public pronouncements and school textbooks.”
The move puts the United States at odds with numerous countries, including France, that recognised a Palestinian state at the United Nations in 2025.
A total of 142 UN member states endorsed it following the conference on a two-state solution co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia.
The decision comes as violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians has escalated in recent months in the West Bank.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, and violence there has surged since the Oct 7, 2023 Hamas attack that triggered the war in the Gaza Strip.
According to an AFP tally based on Palestinian health ministry data, Israeli soldiers or settlers have killed at least 1,109 Palestinians in the West Bank – fighters and civilians – since Oct 7, 2023, when a Hamas-led attack killed more than 1,200 people.
The ensuing Israeli military campaign waged relentless strikes on Gaza that have killed more than 73,821 people, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority and whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.
The international community has expressed concern over the violence, but the United States has remained largely quiet on the issue, saying only that the US government opposes any annexation of Palestinian territory. AFP