Washington said Thursday it would deny visas to Palestinian Authority officials and sharply criticized the body which governs parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, just as multiple US allies move to recognize Palestinian statehood.
The State Department did not specify who was being targeted, only saying it would deny visas to “members” of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and “officials” from the Palestinian Authority (PA).
The organizations are “taking actions to internationalize its conflict with Israel such as through the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Court of Justice (ICJ),” the State Department said in a statement.
It also accused the groups of “continuing to support terrorism including incitement and glorification of violence,” and of “providing payments and benefits in support of terrorism to Palestinian terrorists and their families.”
Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar welcomed the US sanctions, saying the gesture displayed “moral clarity.”
The measures against the PA, whose leader Mahmud Abbas has been widely recognized for years as a key partner in efforts to resolve the conflict, come as growing numbers of countries consider recognizing a Palestinian state.
Canada and France are among the latest nations to announce they will grant recognition during the UN General Assembly meeting which takes place in September in New York.
The US visa denials could possibly complicate attendance to the meeting by Palestinian leaders.
The PA is a civilian ruling authority in areas of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where about three million Palestinians live — as well as around half a million Israelis occupying settlements considered illegal under international law.
Hamas governs the Gaza Strip, which has been engulfed in a devastating Israeli military campaign ever since the militant group launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.
The United States is also ratcheting up pressure on the International Criminal Court, which has issued an arrest warrant for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Saar accused the Palestinian Authority of paying “terrorists” and their families for attacks against Israeli targets and of inciting people against Israel in schools, textbooks, mosques, and Palestinian media.
“This important action by President Trump and his administration also exposes the moral distortion of certain countries that rushed to recognize a virtual Palestinian state while turning a blind eye to the PA’s support for terrorism and incitement,” Saar wrote on X.
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