The United States plans to bar Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas from traveling to New York City in September to address the United Nations General Assembly, a source told The Jerusalem Post.
The source told the Post that PA leaders are trying in every way to reverse the US's decision. The person with knowledge added that Abbas reportedly asked Turkey for help to convince the US to reverse the decision.
Last year, the US denied the visas to Abbas and members of the PA's delegation to attend the assembly, leading Abbas's office to express its "astonishment" and ask US President Donald Trump to reverse the order.
At the time, Ramallah said the US move constituted a violation of a 1947 agreement, under which the United States is generally obligated to allow foreign diplomats access to the UN headquarters in New York. However, Washington says it has the right to deny entry based on considerations related to security, extremism, and foreign policy.
“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,” Mahmoud Abbas’s spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh told Reuters at the time.
This is a developing story.