US suspends most visas for Palestinian passport-holders, after 80 Palestinian officials were denied visas ahead of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
US suspends most visas for Palestinian passport-holders, after 80 Palestinian officials were denied visas ahead of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
US suspends most visas for Palestinian passport-holders, reports say
Earlier in August, visitor visas were paused for people hoping to travel from the Palestinian territory of Gaza. This newly-reported decree would affect a wider group - including people living in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The decision was issued in a diplomatic cable dated 18 August, the New York Times and CNN reported.
US consular officers were told to refuse non-immigrant visas to "all otherwise eligible Palestinian Authority passport holders", the communication was quoted as saying.
That would apply to Palestinians hoping to come to the US for a range of purposes, including for business, study or medical treatment.
The move meant that officials would be required to perform a further review of each applicant, which amounted to a blanket ban on issuing visas to Palestinians, the New York Times added in its report.