Trump administration moves to bar Abbas from attending the UN General Assembly - Sarmad

The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is moving to prevent Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian officials from obtaining visas to participate in the United Nations General Assembly meetings scheduled for September.

If implemented, this measure would mark the second consecutive year that Washington has imposed such restrictions, following a similar step taken in 2025.

Media and diplomatic reports indicate that the ban covers President Abbas alongside senior officials from the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Washington justifies these stringent measures by claiming that the Palestinian Authority’s moves at international forums to seek unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, as well as its political stances regarding the Gaza war and ceasefire negotiations, undermine peace prospects and U.S. foreign policy.

The Palestinian Presidency office has condemned the U.S. move, emphasizing that it constitutes a blatant violation of the 1947 Headquarters Agreement, which legally obligates the United States to facilitate access for all foreign delegations and official figures to the United Nations headquarters in New York.

Israeli media outlets, including the “Walla!” website, reported that President Mahmoud Abbas had asked his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to intervene with Trump to cancel the decision. Despite a phone call made for this purpose, the U.S. administration remains firm in its stance.

Following precedents set previously to circumvent geographic entry bans, Palestinian President Abbas is expected to deliver his scheduled address on September 24 via video link (remotely) to convey his message to the international community.