FILE PHOTO: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas looks on as he visits the Istishari Cancer Center in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, May 14, 2025. REUTERS/Mohammed Torokman/File Photo

By Michelle Nichols and Ali Sawafta

UNITED NATIONS/RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - The U.S. said on Friday it would bar entry to some Palestinian officials seeking to attend next month's U.N. General Assembly in New York, after several U.S. allies pledged to recognize Palestine as a state during the summit despite U.S. and Israeli objections.

The State Department said it was denying and revoking visas from members of the umbrella Palestine Liberation Organization and the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority, without naming the officials targeted.

In a statement, the department reiterated longstanding U.S. and Israeli allegations that the PA and PLO had failed to repudiate terrorism while pushing for "unilateral recognition" of a Palestinian state.

Palestinian officials reject such allegations and say that decades of U.S.-mediated talks have failed to end Israeli occupation and secure an independent Palestinian state.

"(It) is in our national security interests to hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments, and for undermining the prospects for peace," the department said.

Governments typically send large delegations to the assembly. The restrictions could lead to a depleted Palestinian presence at a summit where Britain, France, Australia and Canada have pledged to formally recognize a state of Palestine.

The Palestinians have long sought a state in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The recognition pledges from Western powers reflect frustration with Israel's war in Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands of people and set off a starvation crisis. It also reflects anger with Israeli settlement building in the West Bank, viewed as the heartland of a potential Palestinian state.

PA President Mahmoud Abbas is planning to travel to New York for the annual meeting at the U.N.'s headquarters in Manhattan. It was unclear if Abbas was included in the restrictions.

Abbas' office said it was astonished by the visa decision and argued it violated the U.N.'s "headquarters agreement," under which the U.S. is generally required to allow access for foreign diplomats to the U.N. in New York. His office did not say whether his visa was revoked or denied.

Washington has said it can deny visas for security, terrorism or foreign policy reasons. The State Department said that the Palestinian Authority's mission to the U.N., comprising officials who are permanently based there, would not be included in the restrictions.

Stephane Dujarric, the U.N.'s spokesperson, said the U.N. would discuss the visa issue with the State Department, "in line with U.N. Headquarters agreement between the U.N. and the U.S."

The U.S. also refused to issue a visa to PLO leader Yasser Arafat in 1988. The U.N. General Assembly met that year in Geneva instead of New York so he could address it.

The State Department said it was demanding that the PA and PLO "consistently repudiate terrorism," including the deadly October 2023 Hamas attack that sparked the Gaza war.

In June, Abbas, the Palestinian president, wrote a letter to France's president in which he condemned the Hamas attack and called on hostages taken by the militant group to be released.

Palestine is recognized as a state by 147 of the 193 U.N. member states. The Palestinians currently have observer status at the U.N., the same as the Holy See (Vatican).

The U.S., Israel's most powerful and influential ally, has said a Palestinian state can only be established through direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

(Reporting by Ryan Patrick Jones in Toronto, Michelle Nichols at the United Nations and Ali Sawafta in Ramallah; writing by Rami Ayyub; Editing by Nia Williams)