United States denies entry visa to Mahmoud Abbas for the second time in a row

The United States has again denied an entry visa to the president of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), Mahmoud Abbas, so that he can participate in the UN General Assembly, which begins next week in New York. The information was revealed by AFP this Wednesday (16).

It is the second year in a row that Abbas will not be able to travel to the United States to participate in person in the main annual meeting of the United Nations.

Last year, the UN authorized the Palestinian president to speak via video conference after the American government revoked the visas of members of the Palestinian delegation.

In a separate statement, also released on Wednesday, the US State Department announced new sanctions against members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and officials of the Palestinian Authority.

In the note, the US government stated that the PLO and the Palestinian Authority "failed again" to fulfill commitments made to the United States.

The State Department also accuses the Palestinian Authority of continuing to pay benefits to people the US government classifies as terrorists and of glorifying acts of terrorism in public statements and textbooks.

According to the American government, the measures are a consequence of the "lack of reforms" on the part of the PLO and the Palestinian Authority and of actions that, in the US assessment, harm the prospects for a peace agreement.

Again

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas speaks at the 79th United Nations General Assembly — Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

This Wednesday's decision repeats a measure adopted by Donald Trump's government in 2025, when the United States revoked the visas of Abbas and other members of the Palestinian Authority and the PLO.

At the time, the American government also accused Palestinian organizations of links to terrorism, of not fulfilling commitments made to the US and of harming the prospects for peace in the Middle East.

The visa denial, however, did not prevent Abbas from participating in the General Assembly last year. In September 2025, UN member countries approved a resolution authorizing the Palestinian president to deliver the speech via videoconference.

The proposal received 145 votes in favor. The United States and Israel were among the five countries that voted against, while six others abstained.

What is the Palestinian Authority

The Palestinian flag is raised at the UN headquarters in NY — Photo: AP

Mahmoud Abbas is president of the Palestinian National Authority, which exercises parts of government functions in areas of the West Bank. The entity was created after the Oslo agreements in the 1990s, as part of the process of creating Palestinian self-government.

The Palestinian Authority is linked to the PLO, an organization that brings together different Palestinian political groups and which maintains a rivalry relationship with Hamas.

Since Hamas won the 2006 Palestinian legislative elections and took control of the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Authority has ceased to exercise control over the territory. In practice, the administration was concentrated in parts of the West Bank.

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