US set to bar Palestine's Abbas from UN General Assembly again

The United States plans to bar Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas from traveling to New York in September to attend the United Nations General Assembly, a source told The Jerusalem Post.

The source said Palestinian Authority officials are seeking to reverse the decision and added that Abbas had reportedly asked Türkiye to help persuade Washington to change its position.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan discussed the issue with US President Donald Trump this week, but Washington has so far shown no indication that it intends to reverse the decision, according to the report.

The move would mark the second consecutive year that the United States has denied Abbas access to the UN General Assembly. Last year, Washington denied visas to Abbas and members of the Palestinian delegation, prompting the PA president’s office to express its “astonishment” and call on Trump to overturn the decision.

At the time, Ramallah argued that the US decision violated a 1947 agreement governing the UN headquarters in New York, under which Washington is generally required to facilitate access for foreign diplomats attending UN proceedings.

“We call on the US administration to reverse this decision, which violates international law, especially the ‘Headquarters Agreement’ between the UN and the United States, which prohibits preventing access for any delegation,” Abbas’s spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said.

By Vafa Guliyeva