US to deny visas to Palestinian officials for UN summit on statehood

The United States said on Friday it will deny visas to members of the Palestinian Authority to attend next month’s UN General Assembly, where France is leading a push to recognise a Palestinian state.

The extraordinary step further aligns US President Donald Trump’s administration with Israel’s government, which adamantly rejects a Palestinian state and has sought to lump together the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority with Hamas in Gaza.

“Secretary of State Marco Rubio is denying and revoking visas from members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA) ahead of the coming United Nations General Assembly,” the State Department said in a 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 and for undermining the prospects for peace,” it said.

Using a term favoured by Trump to deride his legal troubles while out of office, the State Department accused the Palestinians of “lawfare” by turning to the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice to take up grievances with Israel.

The Palestinian Authority must end “attempts to bypass negotiations through international lawfare campaigns” and “efforts to secure the unilateral recognition of a conjectural Palestinian state,” it said.