{"id":162574,"date":"2025-08-30T18:41:23","date_gmt":"2025-08-30T18:41:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/trump-administration-blocks-palestinian-president-from-attending-u-n-meeting-in-new-york-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2025-08-30T18:41:23","modified_gmt":"2025-08-30T18:41:23","slug":"trump-administration-blocks-palestinian-president-from-attending-u-n-meeting-in-new-york-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/trump-administration-blocks-palestinian-president-from-attending-u-n-meeting-in-new-york-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump administration blocks Palestinian president from attending U.N. meeting in New York – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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WASHINGTON \u2014 The Trump administration is barring Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas<\/a> from attending the meeting of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly in New York next month where several countries including France, Canada and the U.K. are expected to formally recognize a Palestinian state.
Abbas, along with approximately 80 other officials from his Palestinian Authority (PA), had their U.S. visas revoked or denied ahead of the meeting according to a State Department official, who accused them of undermining the prospects for peace in Gaza where Israel escalated its assault <\/a>on Friday.
Both the PA and and the umbrella Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) \u201cmust repudiate terrorism,\u201d before \u201cthey can be taken seriously as partners for peace,\u201d State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said Saturday, adding that they should abandon \u201cthe pursuit of unilateral recognition of statehood.\u201d The Trump administration \u201cdoes not reward terrorism,\u201d he said.
As the host country for the United Nations, the U.S. is required under a 1947 \u201cheadquarters agreement,\u201d to grant foreign diplomats access to the U.N. but exceptions have been made by past administrations for both security and policy reasons.
After the U.S. refused to issue a visa to PLO leader Yasser Arafat in 1988, The U.N. General Assembly held a meeting that year in Geneva instead of New York so he could address it.
Headed by Abbas, who has not faced an election in almost two decades, the Palestinian Authority<\/a> administers parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. It has not governed in Gaza since 2007 when the Palestinian president’s security forces were driven out by the Islamic militant group Hamas.
In June, Abbas wrote a letter to France\u2019s president in which he condemned the Hamas attack and called on hostages taken by the militant group to be released.
Pigott’s comments echoed a statement from the State Department on Friday which said the PA and the PLO \u201cmust consistently repudiate terrorism,\u201d including the Hamas-led terror attacks<\/a> on Oct. 7, 2023, which saw 1,200 people killed and around 250 people taken hostage.
It also accused PA and PLO of contributing to \u201cHamas\u2019s refusal to release its hostages, and to the breakdown of the Gaza ceasefire talks.\u201d
Washington has said it can deny visas for security, extremism and foreign policy reasons. Israel\u2019s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar welcomed the State Department\u2019s decision.
But Riyad Mansour<\/a>, the Palestinian ambassador to the U.N. told reporters Friday that as far as he knew, \u201cthe head of our delegation is President Mahmoud Abbas, and he is coming to represent the state of Palestine and the Palestinian people in that conference.\u201d
On the visa revocations, he added, \u201cWe will see exactly what it means and how it applies to any of our delegation, and we will respond accordingly.\u201d
Several European foreign ministers criticized the decision ahead of a meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark on Saturday. A U.N. General Assembly \u201ccannot be subject to any restrictions on access,\u201d French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot<\/a> told reporters.
France, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia are each expected to formally recognize a Palestinian state at the assembly, a move the Trump administration has opposed. The state of Palestine is currently recognized by 147 of the U.N.\u2019s 193 member states.
The visa revocations came amid mounting global anger over starvation in Gaza after more than 22 months of war which has seen more than 63,000 people killed, according to health officials in the enclave.
After launching a fresh assault on the north of the enclave earlier this week, Israel said Friday that Gaza City<\/a> had become a dangerous combat zone.
The operation around the Strip’s largest city is expected to displace thousands and after Israel carried out heavy strikes in the area on Friday residents, many of whom have been displaced several times during the war, started to flee. As tanks advanced in several areas, by afternoon Gaza City\u2019s streets were crowded with newly displaced families.
Um Warda said she could not sleep as shelling shook the ground beneath her, forcing her to flee \u201cwith no food, no water.\u201d
\u201cWe don\u2019t even know if we are alive or dead,\u201d she said. \u201cI have no idea where we will go or what will happen to us.\u201d
Nearby, Ammar Ahmad Abu Warda, 21 and newly married, carried what belongings he could on his shoulders but he said he had lost track of his wife and children.
\u201cMy whole life is gone,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is my land, my house \u2014 both are gone, but I will stay.\u201d
Abigail Williams reported from Washington and Freddie Clayton from London. <\/em>
Abigail Williams is a producer and reporter for NBC News covering the State Department.
Freddie Clayton is a freelance journalist based in London.\u00a0
© 2025 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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