By MATTHEW LEE
WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary of State Marco Rubio has revoked the visas of plenty of Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Group officers forward of subsequent month’s annual high-level assembly of the U.N. Basic Meeting, the place the teams beforehand have been represented.
The State Division stated in an announcement Friday that Rubio additionally had ordered some new visa purposes from Palestinian officers be denied.
The transfer is the most recent in a sequence of steps the Trump administration has taken to focus on Palestinians with visa restrictions and comes because the Israeli navy declared Gaza’s largest metropolis a fight zone. The State Division additionally suspended a program that had allowed injured Palestinian kids from Gaza to return to the U.S. for medical remedy after a social media outcry by some conservatives.
The State Division didn’t specify what number of visas had been revoked or what number of purposes had been denied. The division didn’t instantly reply to a request for extra specifics.
It wasn’t instantly clear if Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas can be affected.
The company’s assertion did say that representatives assigned to the Palestinian Authority mission on the United Nations can be granted waivers underneath the U.S. host nation settlement with the U.N. to allow them to proceed their New York-based operations.
“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,” the assertion stated. “Before the PLO and PA can be considered partners for peace, they must consistently repudiate terrorism — including the October 7 massacre — and end incitement to terrorism in education, as required by U.S. law and as promised by the PLO.”
The Palestinian ambassador to the U.N., Riyad Mansour, advised reporters Friday that he had simply realized of Rubio’s choice and was assessing its impression.
“We will see exactly what it means and how it applies to any of our delegation, and we will respond accordingly,” he stated.
Mansour stated Abbas was main the delegation to subsequent month’s U.N. conferences and was anticipated to deal with the Basic Meeting — as he has completed for a few years. He additionally was anticipated to attend a high-level assembly co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia on Sept. 22 a couple of two-state answer, which requires Israel residing side-by-side with an unbiased Palestine.
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Related Press author Edith M. Lederer on the United Nations contributed to this report.
Initially Printed: August 29, 2025 at 2:53 PM EDT
