The US has again denied Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas a visa to attend the UN General Assembly in New York, preventing him from joining the annual gathering of world leaders later this month.
The State Department said it had extended visa restrictions on Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization officials ahead of the 80th session of the General Assembly, which begins on Tuesday next week.
The restrictions mean Abbas, 90, will again be unable to travel to New York for the gathering, after Washington also denied him a visa ahead of last year’s General Assembly.
“The Palestine Liberation Organization and Palestinian Authority have, once again, failed to live up to their commitments,” the US State Department said in a statement released overnight.
The State Department said the restrictions were imposed over actions by the PA and PLO “to internationalize the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including through the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice” and to pursue the “unilateral recognition” of a Palestinian state.
Washington also accused the groups of “backing terrorists” as it defended the continued visa restrictions on Palestinian officials.
The US says it will extend visa bans on Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organization officials, preventing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas from travelling to New York ahead of his address to the UNGA for the second year in a row.
— Al Jazeera English (@AJEnglish) September 17, 2026
🔗: https://t.co/bxS3TFvIOE pic.twitter.com/VzXtC02x4o
The PA called on the US to reconsider its decision, calling it “an unjustified measure that runs counter to efforts aimed at restoring trust, developing Palestinian-US relations, and creating the political climate necessary to implement the two-state solution and achieve peace and stability in the region”.
“Resorting to international institutions and international law is a legitimate right of the State of Palestine and a peaceful, legal means to protect the Palestinian people and their rights,” the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said.
“This cannot be equated with the policies of occupation, settlement expansion, annexation, displacement, and settler violence – actions that pose the real threat to the two-state solution and prospects for peace.”
The State Department said it “has maintained the standing waiver for personnel notified to the PLO Observer Mission to the United Nations”, allowing accredited Palestinian representatives to continue operating at the UN despite the broader restrictions.
The 193-member General Assembly is due to vote on Thursday on whether Mr Abbas can deliver a video statement to the annual high-level gathering next week. Mr Abbas addressed the General Assembly by video last September after the US denied him a visa to attend.
The move comes as several US allies have recognized Palestine as a state, further intensifying tensions between Washington and the Palestinian leadership.
Palestinian officials have argued that decades of US-mediated negotiations have failed to end the Israeli occupation or establish an independent Palestinian state.
Source: Agencies