US will deny visas for Palestinian leadership in advance of annual UN General Assembly in New York

The State Department announced in a press release Friday it will deny and revoke visas for Palestinian leadership ahead of next month’s United Nations General Assembly.

It did not specify which Palestinian officials will be barred from traveling to the United States. 

“Before they can be taken seriously as partners for peace, the PA and [Palestine Liberation Organization] must repudiate terrorism, lawfare campaigns at the [International Criminal Court] and [International Court of Justice], and the pursuit of unilateral recognition of statehood,” State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Tommy Pigott said in a statement Friday, according to Politico.

He said, however, that the U.S. “remains open to re-engagement should the PA/PLO demonstrably take concrete steps to return to constructive engagement.”

Since there is a treaty that governs the U.N. headquarters in New York, the State Department will continue issuing visas for Palestinian diplomats who staff the Palestinian Authority mission before the United Nations meeting in September.

The Palestinian ambassador to the U.N., Riyad Mansour, said Friday, “We will see exactly what it means and how it applies to any of our delegation, and we will respond accordingly.”