The United States has begun revoking and denying visas for officials of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the run-up to the United Nations General Assembly.
The News Chronicle gathered that Secretary of State Marco Rubio, in a statement, explained that the decision aligns with U.S. law and reflects President Donald Trump’s administration’s stance on not “rewarding terrorism.”
According to the statement, “The Trump Administration has been clear: it is in our national security interests to hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments.”
Washington further accused Palestinian representatives of “undermining the prospects for peace.” The statement emphasized that before the PLO and PA can be considered as genuine peace partners, they must categorically reject acts of terrorism. This, it added, includes “the Oct. 7 massacre and end incitement to terrorism in education, as required by U.S. law and as promised by the PLO.”
The U.S. also insisted that “the PA must also end its attempts to bypass negotiations through international lawfare campaigns.” This was in reference to “appeals to the ICC and ICJ, and efforts to secure the unilateral recognition of a conjectural Palestinian state.”
According to Washington, such actions contributed to Hamas’s refusal to release hostages and to the collapse of the ceasefire negotiations in Gaza. However, the statement clarified that “the PA Mission to the UN will receive waivers per the UN Headquarters Agreement.”
The U.S. stressed its willingness to re-engage provided certain conditions are met: “The United States remains open to re-engagement that is consistent with our laws.”
It added that the PA and PLO must “meet their obligations and demonstrably take concrete steps to return to a constructive path of compromise and peaceful coexistence with the State of Israel.”
Reacting to the development, Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General António Guterres, confirmed the world body had taken note of the move. “We’ve learned of this, just like you, through the press statements. We’re obviously going to follow up,” he said.
He further stated: “We’ll discuss these matters with the State Department in line with the UN Headquarters Agreement between the UN and the U.S.”
