The U.S. State Department announced Friday that it has denied and revoked visas for several members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Palestinian Authority (PA) ahead of the upcoming United Nations General Assembly in September. The decision, approved by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, is aimed at preventing Palestinian officials from participating in the high-level summit where the war in Gaza and the question of Palestinian statehood will be key topics.
According to the State Department, the move is intended to curb what it described as efforts to “internationalize” the conflict. In an official statement, the department said: “Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced that he is denying and revoking visas for members of the Palestine Liberation Organization and Palestinian Authority as a national measure to hold the PA and PLO accountable for failing to comply with commitments under U.S. law, including to fully and credibly repudiate terrorism such as the October 7, 2023 attacks, end incitement in education, and halt efforts to ‘internationalize’ the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through appeals to bodies like the ICC and ICJ and pursuing unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.”
While representatives from the Palestinian mission to the United Nations in New York will remain unaffected, this move effectively bars PA President Mahmoud Abbas from attending the gathering, which many member states view as a pivotal opportunity to advance recognition of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.
The decision has further underscored Washington’s widening policy gap with other Western allies. France, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia are all expected to formally recognize a Palestinian state during the General Assembly, leaving the United States as the last major power—and the only permanent UN Security Council member—to withhold recognition.
Last year, the U.S. exercised its veto power to block a resolution that would have upgraded Palestine’s current status as a non-member observer state to full membership in the United Nations. The new visa restrictions are likely to heighten tensions at this year’s assembly and could further isolate Washington diplomatically as more countries move toward supporting Palestinian statehood.