US reportedly suspends visa approvals for nearly all Palestinian passport holders | Trump administration
The United States has suspended visa approvals for almost all those who have a Palestinian passport, the New York Times reported on Sunday.
The restrictions go beyond those that the administration of Donald Trump had previously announced on visitors to Gaza. They would prevent Palestinians from going to the United States for medical treatment, to frequent university and business trips, the newspaper reported, citing unidentified officials.
The State Department declared two weeks ago that he stopped all visitors’ visa for Gaza while he was making a “complete and in-depth” review, a decision that was sentenced by pro-Palestinian groups.
On Friday, the United States began to deny and revoke the visas of members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA) before the meeting of the United Nations Assembly in September, the State Department confirmed.
Under an agreement as a UN host in New York, the United States is not supposed to refuse visas for officials heading to the World Organization for the General Assembly, but the State Department declared that it was complying with the agreement by authorizing the Palestinian mission to attend.
“The Trump administration was clear: it is in our national security interests to hold the PLO and the AP responsible for not complying with their commitments and having undermined the perspectives of peace,” the State Department said in a statement.
The new measure is further aligns the Trump administration with the right -wing government of Israel, which categorically rejects a Palestinian state.
Jason Burke has contributed to reports
