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US Bars Abbas From UN Assembly for Second Straight Year

56 minutes ago

Washington has denied Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas a visa for the UN General Assembly, extending sanctions on Palestinian officials into a second year.

The United States has refused an entry visa to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, blocking him from attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York next week, two Palestinian sources said. The decision, reported on 17 September 2026, marks the second consecutive year that Washington has shut Abbas out of the world body's flagship gathering of leaders.

The move followed a US announcement that it was widening visa penalties against Palestinian officials. Washington did not name Abbas directly but said the restrictions targeted those it accused of breaking commitments made under the peace process. The State Department charged that the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization had been "glorifying terrorism" and working to "internationalize" the dispute with Israel.

The penalties date back to August of last year, when 80 Palestinian officials were turned away from the same annual summit. Both bodies now under sanction trace their standing to the Oslo agreements. The Palestinian Authority was created through those accords, while the PLO won recognition as the official voice of the Palestinian people after agreeing to accept Israel and abandon armed struggle.

The Palestinian foreign ministry pushed back in a statement on Thursday, describing the visa curbs as a step without justification. It said the measure worked against attempts to restore confidence, strengthen ties between Palestinians and Washington, and build the conditions needed to reach a two-state settlement and lasting calm.

Palestinian representatives dismissed the charges leveled by the Trump administration and Israel, arguing they were entitled under international law to pursue accountability against a power they describe as an occupier. When the visa ban was first imposed last year, an aide to Abbas said the action clashed with both international law and the agreement governing the UN's presence in New York.

That agreement obliges the United States, as host, to grant foreign diplomats entry to reach the UN. Washington counters that it retains the authority to withhold visas on grounds of security, extremism or foreign policy.

Denied a place in the hall last year, Abbas delivered his remarks to the assembled heads of state by video link. A similar arrangement may be arranged again: all 193 members of the General Assembly are due to vote on Thursday on whether he will be permitted to speak remotely at this year's session.

The standoff underscores how isolated the US position has become on Palestinian statehood. Roughly three-quarters of the UN's 193 members now recognize the State of Palestine, among them the United Kingdom, France, Canada and Australia. On the Security Council, the US stands alone among the five permanent members in withholding that recognition.

Gaza Strikes Continue Despite Ceasefire

The visa ruling landed as the UN cautioned that conditions in Gaza remain severe, even with the ceasefire reached last October. Israeli air raids and other operations are still striking populated districts, the world body said, killing and wounding people, wrecking buildings and forcing more residents to flee their homes.

On Tuesday, at least five Palestinians were killed in Israeli air strikes, among them two children and a Hamas commander, according to health officials and Hamas sources. The Israeli military said it had killed one Hamas commander in the south of the territory and another combatant in the north. In each case, it was reported that a child died as well.

Separately, the British charity Medical Aid for Palestinians said a patient had been killed by an Israeli drone at a health facility it backs in Jabalia, in northern Gaza. An Israeli military spokesperson told reporters the army had no knowledge of the reported strike.

The humanitarian warnings and the fresh casualties frame the diplomatic clash now unfolding in New York, where the question of whether Abbas will address the assembly, and by what means, rests with a vote of the full membership.

Mahmoud Abbas visa, UN General Assembly, Palestinian Authority, US visa sanctions, two-state solution, PLO, Gaza ceasefire, Israeli-Palestinian conflict

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