Members of the Palestinian Authority (PA) and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) have been subject to sanctions by the administration of US President Donald Trump, who claim they support “terrorism” and want to destabilize peace efforts.
The Trump administration’s Department of State’s announcement on Thursday denied visa applications to either organization’s members.
The PLO and PA should be held accountable for breaking their commitments and undermining the chances for peace, according to the announcement.
Palestinians’ representatives are the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority, who are lobbying for the establishment of a Palestinian state on the international stage.
However, the State Department claimed to have told Congress that the organizations had violated international conventions, including the 2002 Middle East Peace Commitments Act.
The State Department specifically criticized the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority for attempting to “internationalize its conflict with Israel” by requesting relief from the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice.
Additionally, it accused the Palestinian Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority of “continuing to support terrorism, including incitement and glorification of violence” and of “providing payments and benefits in support of terrorism to Palestinian terrorists and their families.”
The State Department cited textbooks as a , which demonstrates that these organizations have allegedly supported “terrorism.”
Israel has waged a nearly 22-month-long conflict in Gaza, which human rights experts at the UN have compared to a genocide. In Israel’s military operation, more than 60 000 Palestinians have died, and more are at risk of starvation as a result of the territory’s blockade.
Since the war broke out on October 7, 2023, there have been more violent Palestinian attacks and illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. Nearly 1, 000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli-occupied West Bank attacks, some by settlers and others by Israeli military personnel.
These actions raise a number of international legal issues for Israel. For instance, in response to accusations of war crimes in Gaza, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defense minister Yoav Gallant in November 2024.
The International Court of Justice has heard from other nations, including South Africa, in cases alleged that Israel is murdering Gaza.
However, the US has remained a steadfast supporter of Israel throughout its conflict in Gaza and provided the Israeli government with billions of dollars in military support.
Additionally, it has criticized international court efforts to hold Israel accountable for human rights violations, contending that neither the US nor Israel are subject to the courts’ jurisdictions.
However, Palestine does not belong to the UN’s observer body, which oversees the International Court of Justice. Additionally, it is a member of the International Criminal Court’s founding document, the Rome Statute.
The State Department’s decision on Thursday comes as several Western nations, including France, the UK, and Canada, pledge to recognize Palestine’s status at the upcoming UN General Assembly in September.
Trump, however, has criticized these efforts as pointless. Additionally, he warned that Hamas, a group that has fought for Palestinian statehood, will receive a “reward” from the recognition of Palestinian statehood.
In recent months, the US has imposed a number of sanctions that appear to be intended to tarnish critics of Israel.
For instance, it approved judges on the International Criminal Court who were involved in the decision to grant arrest warrants to Netanyahu and Gallant in June. Additionally, it approved Francesca Albanese, a special rapporteur at the UN whose responsibility is to monitor Palestinians’ human rights situation, earlier this month.
The US claimed Albanese was engaging in “political and economic war against the United States and Israel” at the time.
Source: Aljazeera
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