US Denies Visas to Abbas Delegation for Second Straight Year
Washington has refused visas for a Palestinian delegation led by President Mahmoud Abbas, citing unmet commitments, as the UN General Assembly prepares to vote on allowing him to speak by video.
The United States has denied visas to a high-level Palestinian delegation, including Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, preventing their attendance at the annual gathering of world leaders at the United Nations for a second consecutive year.
The State Department said the Palestinian officials had not fulfilled commitments made under earlier agreements to pursue peace with Israel. It pointed to the Palestinian Authority's continued pursuit of legal cases against Israel at the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, as well as payments to the families of prisoners convicted of attacks against Israelis. The statement also referred to officials linked to the Palestine Liberation Organization.
The decision comes amid a broader push by the administration of President Donald Trump to dismantle the International Criminal Court, which it accuses of unfairly targeting American and Israeli personnel over alleged crimes in Afghanistan, Iraq and Gaza. Neither Israel nor the United States is a member of the tribunal.
Speaking in New York, Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour said the delegation had been denied visas in violation of Article 11 of the UN headquarters agreement, which requires host authorities to allow all delegations to attend and take part in proceedings. He said the General Assembly is scheduled to vote on a resolution permitting Abbas to address the body by video.
"We tried, but they did not issue a visa, but that doesn't mean that we will not be present in the United Nations," Mansour said, adding that the Palestinian voice would be heard through whatever means are available, including a video statement by the president, as happened last year.
"Nobody can remove Palestine from being center and front in the United Nations and in the deliberations," he said, calling for an end to the war and the illegal occupation, and for a two-state solution that he said enjoys global consensus.
Despite the visa refusals, Palestinian diplomats already accredited to the United Nations will represent the delegation at next week's high-level meeting of the General Assembly.