The United Nations General Assembly has voted to allow Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to address its annual gathering of world leaders next week by video link after the United States refused to grant him a visa to travel to New York in person.
“The State of Palestine may submit a prerecorded statement of its President, which will be played in the General Assembly Hall,” said the resolution, which passed on Friday with 145 votes in favor, five opposed, and six abstentions.
The move comes weeks after the Palestinian Authority urged Washington to reinstate Abbas’s visa so that he could travel to the United States to lead the Palestinian delegation and address the UNGA in person.
Abbas was among 80 Palestinian officials whose visas were revoked by the US State Department, citing national security concerns.
The General Assembly speeches are scheduled to begin on Tuesday after leaders gather on Monday for a summit — hosted by France and Saudi Arabia — that aims to build momentum towards a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.
“Gaza is issue number one at the UN General Assembly,” Al Jazeera’s Diplomatic Editor James Bays reported from New York.
“All leaders come here and give their speeches. But on this occasion … Mahmoud Abbas has been denied a visa … which is very unusual.”
Bays said the overwhelming vote in favour of Abbas addressing the UNGA by video was a “snapshot of international opinion on Palestine and Gaza”, and that it showed “very few countries that are backing the side of Israel and the US”.
The Trump administration’s decision has received widespread criticism, with the UN asserting that it violates the Host Country Agreement, under which the US is obligated to permit heads of state and government to travel to New York for annual meetings and diplomatic business.
The US visa curbs come amid growing condemnation of Israel’s war on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and a wave of Israeli settler and military violence in the occupied West Bank.
In response to Israel’s devastating attacks over the past nearly two years, an increasing number of countries, mainly in Europe, have announced intentions to back Palestinian statehood at the UN this September.
According to local health officials, Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 65,141 people and wounded 165,925 since October 2023, with thousands more believed to be buried in the rubble.
