The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressed its"extreme astonishment" at the US decision to prevent the Palestinian delegation from attending the UN General Assembly meetings in New York, according to a report published by the Cairo News Channel website.

The ministry said in a statement that this decision constitutes a"flagrant violation" of the UN Headquarters Agreement, which guarantees the right of heads and members of delegations to participate in meetings.

The US State Department announced today that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has decided to deny and revoke visas for members of the Palestinian Authority ahead of the UN General Assembly in September.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry called on the United Nations to"assume its responsibilities" and "take immediate action" to halt the implementation of the US decision.

The international organization also called for diplomatic solutions to ensure the Palestinian delegation's attendance at the meetings.

The statement emphasized that the US decision"will fail" in thwarting recognition of the State of Palestine, and will also fail to thwart the international consensus on the need to halt the"crimes of genocide, displacement, and annexation" against the Palestinian people.

The State Department also said that Washington will not grant visas to Palestinian officials to attend a UN conference on the two-state solution.

According to the statement, Washington called on the Palestinian Authority to"cease its attempts to bypass negotiations through international legal battles, including appeals to the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, and its efforts to secure unilateral recognition of a hypothetical Palestinian state," noting that "these two steps contributed to Hamas's refusal to release its detainees and the collapse of ceasefire talks in Gaza."

Two-state solution conference

Last week, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that his country would co-chair, with Saudi Arabia, the international conference on implementing the two-state solution, to be hosted by New York on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meetings next September, as part of efforts to achieve progress on this issue.

Saudi Arabia and France co-chaired the"International Conference for the Peaceful Settlement of the Palestinian Issue and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution" at the ministerial level, held at the United Nations headquarters in New York City, USA, on July 28 and 29.