The United States announced on Wednesday that it would not allow Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to travel to New York for a meeting of world leaders at the United Nations, where several US allies are set to recognize Palestine as a state.

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The United States announced yesterday, Friday, that it will not allow Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to travel to New York next month for a meeting of world leaders at the United Nations, where several US allies are set to recognize Palestine as a state.

A State Department official said Abbas and about 80 other Palestinians would be affected by the decision to revoke visas for members of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority.

Abbas had been scheduled to attend the annual UN General Assembly in Manhattan. He was also scheduled to attend a summit there, where Britain, France, Australia and Canada have pledged to formally recognize a Palestinian state.

The UN headquarters agreement

Abbas's office announced that it was surprised by the visa decision and said it violated the UN headquarters agreement.

Under the 1947 UN Headquarters Agreement, the US is generally required to allow foreign diplomats access to the UN offices in New York. However, Washington has said it can deny visas for security, extremism and foreign policy reasons.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, Abbas' spokesman, called on Washington on Saturday to reconsider its decision.

"We call on the US government to revoke the decision, which is contrary to international law, and specifically the United Nations-United States Headquarters Agreement, which prohibits the obstruction of any delegation," he told Reuters.

International reactions

Several European foreign ministers attending a European Union meeting in Copenhagen on Saturday criticized the US decision.

A UN General Assembly cannot be subject to access restrictions, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told reporters. Irish Foreign Minister Simon Harris said the EU should protest the decision in the strongest possible terms.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in a statement today that he had contacted Abbas to express Madrid's support and called the visa decision unfair.

Palestine has the right to have its voice heard at the United Nations and in all international forums, he said in a post on X.

State Department: They have not renounced terrorism

The US State Department justified its decision by reiterating long-standing US and Israeli allegations that the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) have failed to renounce extremism while simultaneously pushing for unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state.

Palestinian officials reject the claims and stress that decades of US-brokered talks have not led to an end to the Israeli occupation and an independent Palestinian state.

"(It is) in our national security interest to hold the PLO and the Palestinian Authority accountable for failing to comply with their commitments and undermining the prospects for peace," the State Department said.

He clarified, however, that the Palestinian Authority mission to the UN, which consists of officials who have a permanent seat there, will not be included in the restrictions.

The State Department announced that it is demanding that the Palestinian Authority and the PLO consistently denounce terrorism, including Hamas' deadly attack on Israel in October 2023 that sparked the Gaza War.

In June, Abbas wrote a letter to the president of France, in which he condemned the Hamas attack and called for the release of the hostages held by the armed organization.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Shaar welcomed the US decision.

The recognition of a Palestinian state

Israel and the US are unhappy with several Western allies who have pledged to recognize a Palestinian state at the UN next month.

At least 147 of the 193 UN member states already recognize a Palestinian state. The Palestinians have observer status at the UN, the same as the Holy See (Vatican).

The Palestinians have long sought a state in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza, with East Jerusalem as its capital. The United States says a Palestinian state can only be established through direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians.

What happened to Arafat in 1988?

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the UN would discuss the visa issue with the US State Department.

In 1988, the US refused to issue a visa to PLO leader Yasser Arafat. The UN General Assembly held a meeting that year in Geneva instead of New York so it could address the issue.