US extends visa ban on Palestinian officials before UN General Assembly

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is among those barred for the second year in a row.

US President Donald Trump greets Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a summit on ending Israel's war on Gaza in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on October 13, 2025 [File: Evan Vucci/Pool via Getty Images]

The United States Department of State has announced it will extend visa sanctions on officials of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), preventing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas from travelling to New York ahead of his address to the United Nations General Assembly next week for the second year in a row.

“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, the United States will extend sanctions that deny visas to PLO members and PA officials,” the State Department said in a statement.

list 1 of 3 US set to approve 60,000 heavy bombs for Israel: What that means

list 2 of 3 Egypt’s el-Sisi rejects displacement of Palestinians from Gaza

list 3 of 3 For checkpoint and settler attack news, Palestinians tune into the radio

The State Department accused the PA of violating US law by pursuing international recognition of Palestinian statehood outside direct negotiations, taking its dispute with Israel to international courts and providing payments to people the US and Israel label as convicted attackers and their families.

It added that the PA mission to the UN would keep a waiver under the UN Headquarters Agreement, which allows its regular staff to continue working even as individual officials are barred from entering the US.

Abbas’s speech this year had been expected to press for international recognition of Palestinian statehood and renewed momentum behind a two-state solution, following a wave of recognitions this month by the United Kingdom, France, Canada and other Western governments, as well as to draw attention to the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and the rapid expansion of illegal Israeli settlements and settler pogroms across the occupied West Bank.

No Israeli officials face equivalent US travel restrictions, despite an International Criminal Court arrest warrant issued against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over alleged war crimes in Gaza.

Last year’s ban drew criticism from Palestinian officials and UN human rights experts, who said the visa bans breach the US’s obligation to allow individuals invited by the UN to travel to its New York headquarters, and have argued that singling out Palestinian representatives while shielding Israeli leaders undermines Washington’s stated commitment to a negotiated peace.

巴勒斯坦总统马哈茂德·阿巴斯连续第二年被禁止入境。

2025年10月13日，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普在埃及沙姆沙伊赫举行的结束以色列对加沙战争的峰会上，与巴勒斯坦总统马哈茂德·阿巴斯握手致意。[图片来源：Evan Vucci/Pool via Getty Images]

美国国务院宣布将延长对巴勒斯坦权力机构（PA）官员和巴勒斯坦解放组织（PLO）成员的签证制裁，这将连续第二年阻止巴勒斯坦总统马哈茂德·阿巴斯前往纽约，参加他下周在联合国大会上的演讲。

美国国务院在一份声明中表示：“由于他们未能进行改革，违背了他们对美国的承诺，并且他们持续开展破坏和平前景的活动，美国将扩大制裁范围，拒绝向巴解组织成员和巴勒斯坦权力机构官员发放签证。”

美国拟批准向以色列提供6万枚重型炸弹（共3份清单，此为第1份）：这意味着什么？

埃及总统塞西拒绝将巴勒斯坦人从加沙驱逐出境（共3条，此为第2条）

列表 3/3：巴勒斯坦人收听广播，了解检查站和定居者袭击的新闻

美国国务院指责巴勒斯坦权力机构违反美国法律，其行为包括在直接谈判之外寻求国际社会承认巴勒斯坦建国、将与以色列的争端诉诸国际法庭以及向美国和以色列认定为已定罪的袭击者及其家属提供赔偿。

声明还补充说，巴勒斯坦权力机构驻联合国代表团将保留《联合国总部协议》规定的豁免权，该协议允许其正式工作人员继续工作，即使个别官员被禁止进入美国。

此前，英国、法国、加拿大和其他西方国家政府本月纷纷承认巴勒斯坦国地位，人们预期阿巴斯今年的讲话将敦促国际社会承认巴勒斯坦国地位，并重新推动两国方案的实施；此外，他还希望引起人们对加沙人道主义灾难以及以色列在被占领的西岸地区迅速扩张的非法定居点和对定居者的迫害的关注。

尽管国际刑事法院已对以色列总理本雅明·内塔尼亚胡发出逮捕令，指控其在加沙犯下战争罪行，但目前没有以色列官员面临与美国类似的旅行限制。

去年的禁令招致了巴勒斯坦官员和联合国人权专家的批评，他们表示，签证禁令违反了美国允许受联合国邀请的人员前往其纽约总部的义务，并认为单独针对巴勒斯坦代表而保护以色列领导人的做法破坏了华盛顿对通过谈判实现和平的既定承诺。