US to deny visas to Palestinian officials

2025-07-31 22:47:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The US says it will impose sanctions on the Palestinian Authority, as well as the body that represents it on the international stage.

The sanctions affect both the Palestinian Authority (PA), which was created by the Oslo peace accords, and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), which was recognized after the same process as the official representative of the Palestinian people in exchange for recognizing Israel and renouncing violence.

The State Department said it would deny visas to PLO members and Palestinian Authority officials.

The timing and language of the statement suggest that this is the Trump administration's response to this week's conference led by France and Saudi Arabia at the United Nations, held to rally support for a future two-state solution.

The meeting came as France, the United Kingdom and Canada pledged to recognize an independent and demilitarized Palestinian state later this year, in some cases subject to certain conditions.

The US condemned these moves, privately warning of diplomatic consequences if participants in the UN conference made "anti-Israel" statements.

In announcing the sanctions, the State Department accused the PA and the PLO of taking actions to "internationalize its conflict with Israel, both through the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ)."

It also referred to a series of early complaints by the US and Israel that the PLO and PA had continued to "support terrorism, including inciting and glorifying violence (particularly in school textbooks), and providing payments and benefits in support of terrorism to Palestinian terrorists and their families".

The Trump administration earlier this year lifted sanctions on violent Israeli settlers who have killed Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

A leading Palestinian politician described the sanctions measure as "retaliation" by the US for commitments to recognize Palestinian statehood by a growing number of countries.

The AP appeared to echo this sentiment in a statement released Thursday.

"These campaigns have escalated in response to the significant and successive achievements of Palestinian diplomacy. In particular, the recent recognitions of the State of Palestine by major countries, the successful United Nations conference in New York and the historic declaration issued therein," she said./ CNA, translated by BBC