U.S. official: Abbas will not be granted a visa to attend U.N. meetings
Al-Khamisa News Network - Gaza
A senior U.S. State Department official said last night that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will not be granted a visa to enter the United States to participate in United Nations General Assembly meetings.
The official, in remarks reported by the U.S. website Axios, said Abbas is among 80 Palestinian Authority officials who will not receive visas and will be affected by the decision.
The move comes as a U.S. attempt to thwart decisions by several countries planning to announce recognition of Palestine as a state during the United Nations session.
U.S. Senator Tom Cotton said, “The Palestinian Authority and the PLO are paying militants to kill civilians, including Americans in Israel. The terrorists who run a pay-for-kill program do not have the right to enter the United States,” he said.
Former Israeli ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan said, “There is no reason that Abu Mazen — who violates every agreement he has signed, continues to act unilaterally and has not condemned the October 7 massacre — should be granted permission by the U.S. administration to appear on the United Nations platform.”
Erdan expressed hope that the next step would be a complete and final cut of the funding the United States transfers to the United Nations each year, which amounts to about $20 billion.
Earlier yesterday evening, the Palestinian Presidency expressed deep regret and astonishment at the decision issued by the U.S. State Department not to grant visas to the Palestinian delegation participating in the United Nations General Assembly meetings next September.
The presidency affirmed that the decision contradicts international law and the “Host Country Agreement”, especially since the State of Palestine is an observer member of the United Nations.
The presidency called on the U.S. administration to reconsider and reverse its decision not to grant visas to the Palestinian delegation to enter New York to attend the UN General Assembly meetings, affirming its commitment to international law, UN legitimacy resolutions and all its obligations toward peace, as stated in President Mahmoud Abbas’s letter to all world leaders including President Donald Trump.
