Abbas without a visa to the USA

"Due to the failure to implement reforms - contrary to the commitments made to the United States - and actions that undermine prospects for peace, the United States will maintain sanctions prohibiting the issuance of visas to members of the PLO and officials of the Palestinian Authority," the State Department said in a statement on Wednesday.

An AFP source close to the matter confirmed that this decision actually concerns the president of the Palestinian Authority. President Donald Trump's administration made the same decision last year, forcing the Palestinian leader to address the United Nations via video link.

A number of US doubts about the president of the Palestinian Authority

Washington accuses Abbas of "failure to fulfill his commitments regarding peace in the Middle East," pointing to "actions that undermine" peace efforts and aim to "internationalize the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, especially through the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ)."

According to the statement, the US also criticizes the Palestinian Authority for "attempting to circumvent negotiations by seeking unilateral recognition of statehood, as well as continuing to pay benefits to terrorists and glorifying acts of terrorism and terrorists themselves in public statements and school textbooks."

The statement noted that the US administration would maintain an exemption allowing members of the Palestinian Mission to the UN to continue operating from New York, the Times of Israel reported.