For the second year, the United States has denied Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas an entry visa ahead of the U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York next week.
The denial extends to dozens of other PA officials as well.
On Wednesday, the State Department explained the decision, noting, “The State Department has reported to Congress that the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Palestinian Authority (PA) have, once again, failed to live up to their commitments as described in the PLO Commitments Compliance Act of 1989 (PLOCCA) and the Middle East Peace Commitments Act of 2002 (MEPCA).”
“This includes initiating and supporting actions at international organizations that undermine and contradict prior commitments in support of Security Council Resolution 242 and 338, taking actions to internationalize 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, and continuing to pay stipends to terrorists and to glorify acts of terrorism and terrorists in public pronouncements and school textbooks.”
“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 United States will extend sanctions that deny visas to PLO members and PA officials in accordance with section 604(a)(1) of the MEPCA.”
“The Department has maintained the standing waiver for personnel notified to the PLO Observer Mission to the United Nations as was the case in the Department’s prior determinations. It is in our national interest to impose consequences and hold the PLO and PA accountable for glorifying terrorism.”
Sanctioning Officials of the Palestinian Authority and Members of the Palestine Liberation Organizationhttps://t.co/mCPpNa3AEf
— U.S. State Dept – Near Eastern Affairs (@StateDept_NEA) September 17, 2026
Following the October 7, 2023, terrorist attacks on civilians in Israel, Abbas did not issue a clear public condemnation in the immediate aftermath, instead suggesting that Palestinians have the right to defend themselves against “the terror of settlers and occupation troops.”
In subsequent years, Abbas has had tepid, although indirect criticism of the attacks, but continues to frame the subsequent Gaza war as a far greater catastrophe than murdering, raping, and kidnapping civilians.
Last year, The Gateway Pundit reported that Secretary of State Marco Rubio revoked the visas of Abbas and 80 other officials.
Trump Admin Will Freeze Visas to Palestinian Passport Holders Ahead of UN General Assembly
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