US State Department sanctions Palestinian Authority for ‘undermining peace'
Thursday's announcement from Trump's Department of State would deny United States visas to any member of either organisation.
'It is in our national security interests to impose consequences and hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments and undermining the prospects for peace,' the announcement read.
Both the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian Liberation Organization serve as representatives for the Palestinian people, pushing for recognition of a Palestinian state on the international stage.
But the State Department alleged that the groups had violated prior international agreements, including the Middle East Peace Commitments Act of 2002.
Specifically, it denounced the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian Liberation Organization for seeking to 'internationalize its conflict with Israel' by seeking relief at the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice.
It also accused the Palestinian Authority and the Palestinian Liberation Organization of 'continuing to support terrorism including incitement and glorification of violence' and 'providing payments and benefits in support of terrorism to Palestinian terrorists and their families'.
Israel has been waging a years-long war in Gaza that human rights experts at the United Nations have compared to a genocide. More than 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's military campaign, with more at risk of dying from hunger as a result of its blockade.
Meanwhile, since the war started on October 7, 2023, illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank have increased, as has violence against Palestinians there. Nearly 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank have been killed in attacks, some by settlers, others by members of the Israeli armed forces.
Israel faces several international legal challenges, and in November 2024, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, based on accusations of war crimes in Gaza.
Other countries, including South Africa, have brought cases before the International Court of Justice alleging that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
The US, however, has been an unwavering ally of Israel throughout its war in Gaza, and it has supplied the Netanyahu government with billions of dollars in military aid.
It has also vocally opposed efforts in international court to bring Israel to account for human rights abuses, arguing that neither the US nor Israel are part of the court's jurisdiction.
But Palestine is a non-member observer state at the United Nations, which governs the International Court of Justice. And it is a member of the Rome Statute, the founding document of the International Criminal Court.
The State Department's order on Thursday comes as several prominent Western countries, among them France, the United Kingdom and Canada, pledge to recognise Palestine's statehood at the upcoming United Nations General Assembly.
Trump, however, has dismissed such efforts as inconsequential. He has also warned that any recognition of Palestinian statehood would serve as a 'reward' to Hamas, a group that has fought the Palestinian Authority for power in the Palestinian territories.
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