US bans Palestinian president from speaking at the UN

Submitted by Elis Gjevori on Thu, 09/17/2026 - 11:34 US again bars Mahmoud Abbas from UN General Assembly, citing Palestinian efforts to pursue Israel at international courts and win international recognition

The United Nations logo is seen on a gate outside the UN headquarters ahead of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on 21 September 2025 (Kena Betancur/AFP) Off

The Palestinian foreign ministry on Thursday condemned the US decision to bar Palestinian officials from attending the UN General Assembly for a second year in a row.

The US has denied Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas a visa to attend the UN General Assembly in New York next week, repeating a move that drew widespread criticism last year.

In a statement on Wednesday, the US State Department said it would extend visa restrictions to members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and officials with the Palestinian Authority (PA).

The Palestinian foreign ministry condemned the decision as an “unjustified measure that contradicts efforts to restore confidence, develop Palestinian-American relations, and create the necessary political climate for implementing the two-state solution and achieving peace and stability in the region”.

The State Department said it was extending the restrictions on PA officials as "a consequence of their failure to reform, contrary to their commitments to the United States, and their ongoing activities that undermine the prospects for peace".

Abbas is among those barred from entering the US for the gathering.

The Trump administration took the same step last year, preventing Abbas and other senior Palestinian officials from attending the General Assembly in person.

The decision prompted criticism of Washington’s role as host of the UN headquarters, and sparked calls for a major UN meeting on Palestine to be moved to Geneva. The UN General Assembly later voted 145-5 to allow Abbas to address the gathering remotely.

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As part of its justification for once again barring Palestinian officials, the US explicitly cited Palestinian efforts to pursue Israel through international courts and secure greater international recognition for a Palestinian state.

The Palestinian Authority was "taking actions to internationalize the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including through the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Court of Justice (ICJ) [and] seeking to bypass negotiations through seeking unilateral recognition,” the State Department said.

In response, the Palestinian foreign ministry rejected the US claim that the “Palestinian people's recourse to the United Nations, the International Court of Justice, and the International Criminal Court constitutes an act that undermines peace.

“Resorting to international institutions and international law is a legitimate right of the State of Palestine and a peaceful and legal means to protect our people and their rights, and cannot be equated with the policies of occupation, settlement, annexation, displacement, and settler violence, which constitute the real danger to the two-state solution and to the chances for peace,” the statement added.

The move again places Washington and Israel at odds with much of the international community over Palestinian diplomatic representation and statehood.

Palestine is recognised by 157 UN member states, more than 80 percent of the organisation’s membership.

The US decision also comes amid escalating Israeli settler violence and displacement in the occupied West Bank. The UN said in August that settler violence had reached “unprecedented levels”, with more than 1,430 incidents documented in 2026 by 10 August.

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