US extends visa sanctions on Palestinian Authority officials, PLO members

By Kanishka Singh

The United States denied visas to several Palestinians ahead of last year's U.N. General Assembly and did not allow Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to travel to New York for the gathering of world leaders, where several U.S. allies recognized Palestine as a state.

The 193-member United Nations General Assembly is due to vote on Thursday to allow Abbas to submit a video statement for the annual gathering next week. Abbas addressed the high-level meeting of the General Assembly via video last September.

In its statement on Wednesday, the State Department accused the PA and PLO of taking actions "to internationalize the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including through the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice" and to seek the "unilateral recognition" of a Palestinian state. It also accused the groups of backing "terrorists." 

Palestinian officials say that decades of U.S.-mediated talks have failed to end Israeli occupation and secure an independent Palestinian state.

Under a 1947 U.N. "headquarters agreement", the U.S. is generally required to allow access for foreign diplomats to the U.N. in New York. However, Washington has said it can deny visas for security, extremism and foreign policy reasons.

The State Department said it "has maintained the standing waiver for personnel notified to the PLO Observer Mission to the United Nations."

U.S. President Donald Trump's policies have regularly targeted Palestinians, pro-Palestinian voices and critics of U.S. ally Israel. 

Internationally, the Trump administration has sanctioned International Criminal Court officials, including prosecutors and judges. The court's decision to issue an arrest warrant in 2024 for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity during Israel's assault on ​Gaza has drawn Washington's ire.

Domestically, the Trump administration has attempted to deport pro-Palestinian foreign protesters, threatened ​a funding freeze for universities over protests and enforced social media screening for immigrants.

The Palestinian Authority, which represents the Palestinian people at the United Nations, where the delegation is officially known as the State of Palestine, is not a full member and has no vote in the General Assembly. They are an observer state holding the same status as the Holy See (Vatican).

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Clarence Fernandez and Michael Perry)