U.S. denies visas to PA President Mahmoud Abbas & Palestinian officials ahead of U.N. General Assembly

NEW YORK: The State Department said Friday (29) that it is denying or revoking visas for members of the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization including President Mahmoud Abbas long standing PA head of state, ahead of next month’s U.N. General Assembly gathering in New York. The move comes as multiple U.S. allies, including France, are set to recognize a Palestinian state amid General Assembly proceedings, in response to Israel’s conduct in Gaza.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio blamed them for undermining peace efforts and for seeking “the unilateral recognition of a conjectural Palestinian state”.

The Palestinian ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour, had earlier said that as head of its delegation, Abbas would be attending the meeting of heads of state and government in New York.

But a State Department official later said Abbas and about 80 other Palestinians would be affected by the decision to deny and revoke visas from members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA).

Rubio said Palestinian representatives at the UN mission in New York could attend the meetings in accordance with the UN Headquarters Agreement – the document that regulates issues regarding the operations of the UN in the US.

It is unclear, however, if the US move to deny or revoke visas complies with that document, which outlines that foreign officials’ attendance in New York shall not be impeded by the US, “irrespective of the relations” between their respective governments and the US.

Abbas’ office said it was astonished by the visa decision, which “stands in clear contradiction to international law and the UN Headquarters Agreement, particularly since the State of Palestine is an observer member of the United Nations”. It urged the US to reverse the move.

WestVU team will be in Jerusalem soon by the invitation of Government of Israel in this September 2025 and hope to bring the ground situation in October 07 affected areas.

And we believe that the US response by doing this is targeting its allies and not Palestine.