‘A dangerous precedent’: US blocks Abbas as Palestine recognition looms

The US is denying a visa to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for UN General Assembly – a significant and controversial move ahead of the global summit where several countries are expected to recognise a Palestinian state.

Abbas is also scheduled to attend a summit at UN headquarters hosted by France and Saudi Arabia, during which Britain, France, Australia and Canada are planning to formally recognise a Palestinian state.

The State Department announced on Friday that it is “denying and revoking visas” from members of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). A State Department official confirmed that “Abbas is affected by this action along with approximately 80 other PA officials.”

In 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,” deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott said on X.

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 added.