Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas responded on Friday to the Trump administration’s decision that PA officials, including Abbas himself, will be denied visas ahead of the UN General Assembly next month.
In a statement, Abbas’s office expressed its “deep regret and astonishment” at the US decision, adding that it “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.”
The statement called on the US to reconsider and reverse the move and said it reaffirmed “Palestine’s full commitment to international law, UN resolutions and obligations toward peace, as conveyed in President Mahmoud Abbas’s letters to world leaders, including US President Donald Trump.”
Earlier on Friday, the State Department announced that Secretary of State Marco Rubio is denying visas for officials of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA) ahead of the UN General Assembly.
The Trump Administration has emphasized that "protecting US national security requires holding the PLO and PA accountable for violating their commitments and obstructing the prospects for peace."
"For the PLO and PA to be viewed as genuine partners for peace, they must consistently reject terrorism — including the October 7 attacks — and cease promoting incitement to violence within their educational system, as both US law and the PLO’s own commitments require", the official statement wrote.
The statement continued: "The PA must also abandon efforts to circumvent negotiations through legal maneuvers in international courts such as the ICC and ICJ, as well as attempts to gain unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state. These actions have directly contributed to Hamas’s refusal to release hostages and the collapse of ceasefire negotiations in Gaza".
"The PA Mission to the UN will continue to receive waivers under the UN Headquarters Agreement", the statement concluded, "However, the United States remains open to renewed engagement — provided that the PLO and PA fulfill their obligations and take verifiable, concrete steps toward compromise and peaceful coexistence with the State of Israel".
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar welcomed the decision and stated, “We thank President Donald Trump and his administration for this bold step and for standing with Israel.”
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)