Overview

• Secretary Marco Rubio’s State Department confirmed visa denials and revocations covering Mahmoud Abbas and roughly 80 Palestinian Authority representatives, with the PLO included in the measures.
• The PA’s UN observer mission is exempt, yet Abbas’s attendance is now seen as unlikely because delegations must transit U.S. territory to reach UN headquarters in New York.
• The United States says the step holds PLO and PA figures accountable for undermining peace, failing to reject terrorism, pursuing cases at the ICC and ICJ, and pushing unilateral state recognition.
• The Palestinian leadership calls the move a violation of the 1947 UN Headquarters Agreement and urges a reversal, while a UN spokesman says the organization hopes access is restored to ensure representation.
• Israel’s government welcomes the decision as key allies prepare recognition moves for a Palestinian state at next month’s General Assembly.