(Photo credit: Stephanie Keith / AFP)The Cradle
SEP 18, 2026
Washington barred Palestinian officials from New York for a second year, citing their support for ICC and ICJ cases against Israel
The UN General Assembly voted on 17 September to allow Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas to address its annual session via prerecorded video after the US barred him and other senior Palestinian officials from traveling to New York for the second consecutive year.
The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates hailed the resolution, saying it “represents a breaking of the attempt to prevent Palestine’s participation” and vowed to keep pursuing statehood through “political, legal, and diplomatic channels. ”
The ministry said the address would still air by televised broadcast in its original slot, adding that the vote proved Palestinians would be heard and exposed the failure of efforts “to sideline Palestine and its cause.”
Abbas is expected to push for Palestinian state recognition, following recent decisions by the UK, France, Canada, and other western countries. He will also highlight the Israeli-created humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the spread of illegal Jewish settlements, and the increasing settler violence in the occupied West Bank.
Washington renewed visa sanctions on PA officials and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) members, citing their support for genocide and war crimes cases at the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Israel, along with what it called the PA’s failure to “reform.”
Palestinian Foreign Minister Varsen Aghabekian Shahin denounced Washington’s move, warning that the restrictions “undermine peace and a two-state solution.”
The State Department accused the PA of violating US law by seeking international recognition without talks with Israel and providing social welfare payments to Palestinian prisoners and families of those killed by Israeli forces, a program called “pay to slay.”
Amnesty International demanded the decision be reversed, with senior director Erika Guevara Rosas calling it “a clear violation of the UN Headquarters Agreement” and accusing Washington of exploiting “its privilege as the host country of the UN to impose arbitrary restrictions” on access to the body.
No Israeli official faces any such US restrictions, even as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains wanted by the ICC for his leading role in the genocide in Gaza.
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