The United States has extended visa restrictions on senior Palestinian Authority officials and members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), preventing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas from travelling to New York for the United Nations General Assembly for the second consecutive year.
The US State Department said on Wednesday that the sanctions were being extended because of what it described as the Palestinian leadership’s failure to carry out promised reforms and actions that Washington says undermine prospects for peace.
The department accused the Palestinian Authority of pursuing international recognition of Palestinian statehood outside direct negotiations with Israel, taking disputes with Israel to international courts and maintaining payments to individuals whom the US and Israel identify as convicted attackers and their families.
Despite the restrictions, the Palestinian mission to the UN will retain a waiver under the UN Headquarters Agreement, allowing its regular staff to continue working at the organisation’s headquarters in New York.
Abbas had been expected to address the UN General Assembly next week, with his speech likely to focus on international recognition of Palestinian statehood, renewed efforts towards a two-state solution and the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
The visa restrictions come as several Western countries, including the United Kingdom, France and Canada, have moved to recognise a Palestinian state.
Palestinian officials and UN human rights experts criticised similar US visa restrictions imposed last year, arguing that they interfere with the ability of UN-invited representatives to attend meetings at the organisation’s headquarters.
The US restrictions apply to Palestinian officials, while Israeli officials have not faced equivalent travel restrictions from Washington.
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