The Palestinian Authority has been banned from entering the US again. Here’s more about it

The US has, for a second consecutive year, banned officials from the Palestinian Authority (PA) from entering the country for the United Nations General Assembly. PA President Mahmoud Abbas will once again have to speak at this week’s event virtually.

The US State Department said last week that it would not be issuing visas to PA officials, citing “ongoing activities that undermine the prospects for peace” in what it called the “Israeli-Palestinian Conflict.”

Among these activities are attempts to “internationalize” the conflict, including through the International Criminal Court and International Court of Justice, as well as “continuing to pay stipends to terrorists and to glorify acts of terrorism and terrorists in public pronouncements and school textbooks,” the State Department said.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry called the US’ actions “unjustified,” saying that they undermine “efforts to rebuild trust, strengthen Palestinian-American relations, and advance the two-state solution.”

The Palestinian Authority was formed in 1993. Though it is supposed to govern over the West Bank and Gaza, in recent decades, the militant group Hamas has run the Gaza Strip, according to the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR).

The PA is headquartered in the West Bank, operating from the city of Ramallah. It is comprised of several Palestinian factions, but excludes militant groups such as Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, CFR says.

Abbas is deeply unpopular among Palestinians. He has led the PA since the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in 2004 and has clung to power, despite being seen by critics as lacking democratic legitimacy.

In a 2025 letter, Abbas condemned the Hamas-led October 7, 2023 attack on Israel and pledged to hold elections and reform the PA, according to excerpts shared with CNN.

CNN’s Ibrahim Dahman, Nadeen Ebrahim and Abeer Salman contributed to this reporting.