The US terminates most visas for Palestinian passport holders, according to reports

US officials have further limited visas for visitors to Palestinians, refusing them to almost all candidates who use a Palestinian passport, media reports said.

The development comes days after 80 Palestinian employees were denied visas before the General Nations General Assembly in New York.

Earlier in August, visitors visas were stopped for people who hoped to travel from the Palestinian territory of Gaza. This new decree would affect a wider group of people living in the Israeli West coast.

The State Department did not explicitly confirm this move, but stated that “it was taking specific steps in accordance with the US law and our national security.”

The decision was issued in a diplomatic cable on August 18, according to the New York Times and CNN.

US consular officers were told to refuse non -immigrant visas of “all otherwise eligible passport holders,” communication said.

This would apply to Palestinians, hoping to come to the United States for a number of purposes, including business, training or medical treatment.

This move meant that employees would have to do an additional review of any candidate who is a ban on a blanket for issuing visas to the Palestinians, the New York Times added to his report.

It was said that the Palestinians who were able to make visa apps using other passports were not affected.

It is unclear what prompted the reported move, although the Trump administration is unwavering in its support for Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in Gaza.

The news follows last month’s reports from a number of other allies in the United States – including the United Kingdom, Canada and France – that they will recognize a Palestinian state under certain conditions. US Vice President JD Vance said Washington has no “plans” to follow the example.

The Trump administration also fell apart into propalist protests in university campuses.

This move represents a further strengthening of the President’s position for visas, following two more early measures.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was among a group of dozens of Palestinian officials, who were recently blocked by the presence of the UN General Assembly session in New York this month after US officials canceled his visa and accused the Palestinians, and the Palestinian Liberation.

And the State Department said that on August 16, he had stopped visas approvals for Gaza Palestinian visitors specifically so that a review could be carried out.

Hamas, who was identified as a terrorist group from the United States, ruled Gaza when hundreds of his armed fighters attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages. The attack caused a massive and continuing Israeli military offensive, in which at least 63 459 Palestinians were killed, according to the Hamas Health Ministry.

US Visa Visa policy has already been expanded to include people from the west coast and the width of Palestinian diaspora.

Asked about the last move, the statement of the Spokesman of the Ministry of the State says: “The Trump Administration is taking specific steps in accordance with the US law and our national security regarding the announced visas restrictions and withdrawal of PA (Palestinian) passport holders. We are referring to these public communications about more information on these restrictions.

“Every visa decision is a national security decision. The State Department shall check and make respectively decisions for visa decisions for the holders of the Passport of the BCP.”