Palestinian President Abbas Blocked From UN General Assembly by US Visa Denial

The United States has once again withheld an entry visa from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, preventing his attendance at the upcoming UN General Assembly in New York next week. This information was confirmed on Wednesday by a source close to the situation.

While not explicitly naming President Abbas, the US State Department issued a separate statement indicating that visas would be denied to members of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and officials within the Palestinian Authority (PA). The department cited their “failure to reform, contrary to their commitments to the United States, and their ongoing activities that undermine the prospects for peace” as reasons for the denial. An AFP source later verified that this measure indeed included the Palestinian Authority president, Abbas.

This marks a repeat of last year's action by the Trump administration, which similarly compelled the Palestinian leader – a regular participant at the UN General Assembly – to address the global body via video link. The State Department's Wednesday statement reiterated that the PLO and PA had “once again, failed to live up to their commitments.”

The department further elaborated, stating, “This includes initiating and supporting actions at international organisations that undermine and contradict prior commitments.” Washington also accused these organisations of “taking actions to internationalise the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict including through the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Court of Justice (ICJ),” and “seeking to bypass negotiations through seeking unilateral recognition.” Additionally, the US claimed the groups were “continuing to pay stipends to terr*rists and to glorify acts of terr*rism and terr*rists in public pronouncements and school textbooks.”

This latest decision places the United States in opposition to many nations, including France, which formally recognised a Palestinian state at the United Nations just last year. Following a conference on a two-state solution co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia, a total of 142 UN member states endorsed this recognition.

The visa denial comes amid a significant escalation of violence perpetrated by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank over recent months. Israel has maintained occupation of the West Bank since 1967, and the region has witnessed a surge in hostilities since the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack that ignited the conflict in the Gaza Strip.

Data compiled by AFP, based on figures from the Palestinian health ministry, indicates that at least 1,109 Palestinians – both fighters and civilians – have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli soldiers or settlers since October 7, 2023. The Hamas-led attack on that date resulted in over 1,200 fatalities. The subsequent relentless Israeli military campaign in Gaza has reportedly claimed more than 73,700 lives, according to Gaza’s health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority but whose statistics are deemed reliable by the United Nations.

While the international community has voiced apprehension regarding the ongoing violence, the United States has largely remained silent on the issue, stating only its opposition to any annexation of Palestinian territory.