U.S. announces it will deny visa to Palestinian Authority president and other officials ahead of UN General Assembly

Representatives attend a meeting of the UN Security Council on the Israel-Palestinian conflict at the UN Headquarters in New York on Aug. 27. (Angelina Katsanis/Reuters via CNN Newsource)

The United States is denying a visa to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for next month’s UN General Assembly – a significant and controverisal move ahead of the global summit where multiple countries are expected to recognize a Palestinian state.

The State Department announced Friday it is “denying and revoking visas” from members of the Palestinian Authority (PA) & Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).

A State Department official confirmed that “Abbas is affected by this action along with approximately 80 other PA officials.”

According to Friday’s announcement from the State Department, the Palestinian Authority’s Mission to the UN “will receive waivers per the UN Headquarters Agreement.”

However, refusing Abbas a visa would appear to violate that agreement as the United Nations recognizes Palestine as a non-member observer state.

The policy will also severely limit the presence of Palestinian officials at the annual global summit as the war in Gaza continues and a number of key allies prepare to recognize a Palestinian state.

In a statement Friday, the Palestinian presidency expressed “deep regret and astonishment at the U.S. State Department’s decision not to grant visas to the Palestinian delegation participating in the UN General Assembly meetings next September.” The statement called on the U.S. to “reconsider and reverse its decision.”

Asked about the announcement, Palestinian ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour said Friday, “we will see exactly what it means and how it applies to any of our delegation, and we will respond accordingly.”

In the statement announcing the move, the State Department accused the PA and the PLO of taking steps that “materially contributed to Hamas’s refusal to release its hostages, and to the breakdown of the Gaza ceasefire talks.”

“Before we take them seriously as partners in peace, the PA and PLO must completely reject terrorism and stop counterproductively pursuing the unilateral recognition of a hypothetical state,” State Department deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott said on X.

However, several experts said that the denial of visas to Palestinian officials for the key gathering in New York does not help advance diplomacy for a ceasefire in Gaza.

Israeli officials, including Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar and UN Ambassador Danny Danon, praised the move.

In July, the State Department announced sanctions that would deny visas to the U.S. to unnamed PA and PLO officials.

The move also appears to be a further step to punish those involved in international tribunals’ probes of alleged crimes committed by Israel.

“The PA must also end its attempts to bypass negotiations through international lawfare campaigns, including appeals to the ICC and ICJ, and efforts to secure the unilateral recognition of a conjectural Palestinian state,” Friday’s statement said.

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN

CNN’s Ibrahim Dahman and Tamar Michaelis contributed to this report.