The United States Thursday imposed sanctions on members of Palestine Liberation Organization and officials of Palestinian Authority for actions that it said undermine peace prospects. Palestinian Authority
The State Department particularly singled out the two organization’s efforts tat internationalizing the conflict with Israel, which has been engaged in Gaza war for 22 months. Palestinian Authority
The State Department said the targeted individuals will be denied U.S. visas, although no officials or members were named in the announcement. Palestinian Authority
The PLO says it speaks for the Palestinian people while Palestinian Authority is in charge of governance in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli settlers’ violence has drawn sharp criticisms from Israel’s allies including the United States.
“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,” a statement said Thursday. Palestinian Authority
The U.S. move comes as Washington-backed push for ceasefire faces hurdles with indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas making no conclusive progress.
U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff is in the Middle East to salvage the U.S.-facilitated move to bring about a ceasefire agreement and realize the return of remaining hostages to Israel.
At the same time, humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza has led to an international outcry with several major European countries including Canada and France committing to recognize Palestinian state. Britain has said it would also recognize a separate Palestinian state if Isreal does not reach a ceasefire agreement.
President Donald Trump has said there is “real starvation” in Gaza, as months of Israeli blockade has left Palestinians hungry, according to the United Nations.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claims his government, which has faced criticism from allies for famine-like conditions in Gaza, is not following a policy of starvation. Israeli officials also claim that they do not target Palestinian civilians deliberately.
A global conference, co-hosted by France and Saudi Arabia at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, called for immediate ceasefire in Gaza and efforts to find a two-state solution to the conflict.
Trump says there is ‘real starvation’ in Gaza, disagrees with Netanyahu
The latest conflict flared up when Palestinian militant and political organization Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023. Israeli officials say the terror attack took 1200 lives. Besides, Hamas took around 250 people as hostages.
Since then, Israel has bombarded the besieged Gaza strip in what it calls a campaign to root out militant organization Hamas. According to Gaza health officials, Israeli attacks have devastated infrastructure across the Strip and killed more than 60,000 Palestinians including a large number of children and women.
“The State Department has reported to Congress that the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and Palestinian Authority (PA) are not in compliance with their commitments under the PLO Commitments Compliance Act of 1989 (PLOCCA) and the Middle East Peace Commitments Act of 2002 (MEPCA), including by initiating and supporting actions at international organizations that undermine and contradict prior commitments in support of Security Council Resolution 242 and 338, taking actions to internationalize its conflict with Israel such as through the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Court of Justice (ICJ), continuing to support terrorism including incitement and glorification of violence (especially in textbooks), and providing payments and benefits in support of terrorism to Palestinian terrorists and their families,” the statement said.India Russia ties
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Iftikhar Ali is a veteran Pakistani journalist, former president of UN Correspondents Association, and a recipient of the Pride of Performance civil award
