American Official: Abbas Will Not Receive a Visa to Attend UN Meetings

SadaNews - A senior American official at the U.S. State Department confirmed last night that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will not receive a visa to enter U.S. territory to participate in the United Nations General Assembly meetings.

The official stated in remarks reported by the Axios website that Abbas is among 80 officials from the Palestinian Authority who will not receive visas, and they will be affected by this decision.

This comes in a U.S. attempt to prevent the decisions of several countries that intend to announce recognition of Palestine as a state during the United Nations meeting.

U.S. Senator Tom Cotton stated, "The Palestinian Authority and the PLO are paying militants to kill civilians, including Americans in Israel. The terrorists who run the payment-for-kill program do not have the right to enter the United States," according to his remarks.

Meanwhile, former Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, said, "There is no reason for Abu Mazen, who violates all agreements he has signed and continues to act unilaterally and has not condemned the massacre of October 7, to receive permission from the U.S. administration to appear on the UN platform."

Erdan expressed hope that the next step would be a complete and final cut of the budget that the United States transfers to the United Nations each year, which amounts to about $20 billion.

Earlier yesterday evening, the Palestinian presidency expressed its deep regret and astonishment at the decision issued by the U.S. State Department not to grant visas to the Palestinian delegation participating in the United Nations General Assembly meetings next September.

The presidency emphasized that this decision contradicts international law and the "Headquarters Agreement", especially since the State of Palestine is a non-member observer at the United Nations.

The presidency demanded that the U.S. administration reconsider and retract its decision not to grant the Palestinian delegation visas to enter New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly meetings, reaffirming its commitment to international law, international legitimacy resolutions, and all its commitments to peace, as stated in a letter from President Mahmoud Abbas to all world leaders, including President Donald Trump.