US Denies Mahmoud Abbas Visa for Second Consecutive Year Ahead of UN General Assembly

The US has once again denied Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas a visa to attend the UN General Assembly in New York, barring him from participating in the upcoming annual gathering of world leaders later this month. According to the State Department, visa restrictions have been extended for Palestinian Authority and Palestine Liberation Organisation officials ahead of the 80th session of the General Assembly, which commences on Tuesday next week. Consequently, the 90-year-old Mr Abbas cannot travel to New York for the event, mirroring Washington's decision to deny him entry prior to last year's General Assembly.

In an overnight statement, the US State Department asserted that the Palestine Liberation Organisation and Palestinian Authority have repeatedly failed to fulfill their commitments. Officials cited actions taken by the PA and PLO to internationalise the Israeli-Palestinian conflict—such as engaging with the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice—and efforts to secure unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state as the primary reasons for the ongoing visa limitations. Washington also accused these groups of supporting terrorism while defending the travel restrictions.

Despite these broader measures, the State Department confirmed it has maintained the standing waiver for personnel notified to the PLO Observer Mission to the United Nations, permitting accredited Palestinian representatives to continue their work at the UN. On Thursday, the 193-member General Assembly is scheduled to vote on whether Mr Abbas may deliver a video statement during next week's high-level summit, a format he also used last September following a similar visa denial.

This diplomatic standoff occurs as several US allies formally recognize Palestine as a state, heightening existing frictions between Washington and the Palestinian leadership. Palestinian officials contend that decades of US-led negotiations have proven ineffective in ending the Israeli occupation or delivering an independent Palestinian state. Although the 1947 UN headquarters agreement generally obligates the US to facilitate entry to the UN in New York, Washington maintains that it retains the authority to refuse visas based on foreign-policy, security, and extremism concerns.

The delegation officially operates under the designation of the State of Palestine, holding observer-state status at the UN without voting rights in the General Assembly. These renewed restrictions unfold against a backdrop of wider geopolitical tensions involving the Trump administration and Palestinian authorities, compounded by US opposition to international legal actions concerning Israel. Notably, the administration previously sanctioned International Criminal Court officials, including judges and prosecutors, following the court's 2024 issuance of an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu regarding alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.