UPDATE - US blocks Palestinian officials from attending UNGA as countries prepare to recognize Palestine

ADDS ANOTHER STATEMENT FROM STATE DEPARTMENT, CHANGES DECK, ADDS BACKGROUND

By Rabia Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US has revoked visas for Palestinian officials, barring them from attending next month’s United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, a move that comes as several Western countries prepare to recognize a Palestinian state.

"In accordance with U.S. law, Secretary of State Marco Rubio is denying and revoking visas from members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the  Palestinian Authority (PA) ahead of the upcoming United Nations General Assembly," the State Department said in a statement on Friday.

The agency accused PLO and PA of failing to repudiate terrorism, inciting violence, and pursuing “international lawfare campaigns” through the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Court of Justice (ICJ).

In a separate statement on X, State Department deputy spokesman Tommy Pigott wrote: "Before we take them seriously as partners in peace, the PA and PLO must completely reject terrorism and stop counterproductively pursuing the unilateral recognition of a hypothetical state."

The State Department on July 31 imposed sanctions on the PLO and PA, denying their members visas to the US. Washington, however, recently lifted sanctions on violent Israeli settlers accused of attacks against Palestinians.

The move came as France, the UK, Canada, and Australia have announced plans to recognize a Palestinian state at the upcoming UNGA, joining 147 countries that already do.

Palestinian officials previously criticized the US sanctions, saying they were a "response to the significant and successive achievements of Palestinian diplomacy."

The move also comes amid Israel’s brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip, where more than 63,000 Palestinians have been killed in air and ground attacks since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 assault in Israel.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice over its war on the enclave.