U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has started denying and revoking visas for members of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), the State Department announced Friday.
“The Trump administration has been clear: it is in our national security interests to hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments, and for undermining the prospects for peace,” the State Department said in a statement.
“Before the PLO and PA can be considered partners for peace, they must consistently repudiate terrorism—including the 7 October massacre—and end incitement to terrorism in education,” it said.
The State Department accused the Palestinian Authority of waging lawfare against Israel through its appeals to the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice. It also urged the PA to abandon its push for unilateral recognition of a “conjectural Palestinian state,” saying both those actions “materially contributed to Hamas’s refusal to release its hostages, and to the breakdown of the Gaza ceasefire talks.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar praised the move on X, thanking the Trump administration on X “for this bold step and for standing by Israel once again.”
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his delegation will receive waivers “per the UN Headquarters Agreement,” the U.S. said. Abbas is expected to travel to New York to address the UN General Assembly next month.
