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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will not be permitted to travel to New York for next week’s United Nations General Assembly after the United States government denied him an entry visa. The decision, confirmed on Wednesday by a source familiar with the situation, prevents the veteran Palestinian leader from appearing in person before the assembly of world leaders at the premier international gathering.
The denial is part of a broader set of diplomatic restrictions announced separately by the US State Department. In its formal declaration, the department confirmed that it would refuse visas to members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as well as official representatives of the Palestinian Authority (PA), effectively barring key Palestinian delegations from traveling to the United States.
In setting out its justification for the move, the State Department pointed to what it characterized as a failure by Palestinian leaders to execute promised governance reforms. American officials asserted that the Palestinian Authority had not met its specific reform commitments previously pledged to the United States, thereby prompting the diplomatic penalty.
US officials also accused the Palestinian leadership of engaging in actions that actively damage prospects for Middle East peace. The State Department emphasized that the PA and the PLO have repeatedly pursued and supported initiatives within international organizations that contradict their prior commitments and undermine diplomatic progress.
Although the State Department’s public statement did not cite Abbas directly by name, an informed source confirmed to AFP that the Palestinian Authority president is personally encompassed by the travel prohibition. Consequently, the head of the Palestinian leadership will be barred from stepping onto US soil for the duration of the high-profile summit in New York.
This latest denial marks a recurrence of diplomatic measures enforced during the previous year under the Trump administration. That earlier travel ban prevented Abbas, who has long been a regular attendee at the annual gathering of world leaders, from attending in person and forced him to address the United Nations General Assembly via a remote video broadcast.
The decision to repeat the visa denial underscores an ongoing rift between Washington and the Palestinian leadership. By withholding travel authorization from recognized officials, the United States substantially restricts their ability to participate directly in high-level multilateral diplomacy and conduct crucial face-to-face discussions on the sidelines of the UN summit.
The stance taken by Washington also places the United States at sharp variance with numerous international allies regarding the question of Palestinian representation. Over the past year, several major countries, including France, have moved in the opposite direction by formally recognizing a Palestinian state at the United Nations.
That push for international recognition achieved significant momentum during a dedicated conference on the two-state solution, an initiative co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia. Following that diplomatic gathering, a total of 142 United Nations member states officially endorsed Palestinian statehood, highlighting Washington’s growing isolation on the matter.
The contentious visa policy arrives against the backdrop of sharply deteriorating security conditions and intensifying violence across the occupied Palestinian territories. In recent months, Palestinian communities in the West Bank have been subjected to an escalating wave of attacks carried out by Israeli settlers.
According to a compilation of data from the Palestinian health ministry, Israeli soldiers or armed settlers have killed at least 1,109 Palestinians in the West Bank since October 7, 2023. That casualty count encompasses both armed fighters and civilian residents caught in the widespread turmoil across the territory.
The broader regional escalation originated on October 7, 2023, when a Hamas-led cross-border assault resulted in the deaths of more than 1,200 people in Israel. That attack prompted an extensive, multi-front military response that continues to reverberate across the Middle East.
Following the October 7 assault, Israel initiated a relentless military campaign throughout the Gaza Strip, launching continuous airstrikes and sustained ground operations. The health ministry in Gaza, which operates under Hamas authority and whose casualty figures are regarded as reliable by the United Nations, reports that the military offensive has killed more than 73,700 people.
While the wider international community has repeatedly registered deep alarm over the staggering casualties and expanding regional instability, the United States has maintained a largely muted public posture on the issue. Washington has generally limited its formal commentary to reiterating that the US government opposes any potential annexation of Palestinian territory.
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