Abbas to Address UN After US Visa Ban Amid Hamas Controversy

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will address the United Nations General Assembly this week not in person, but via video, after the Biden administration revoked his visa last month. The decision to bar Abbas and roughly 80 other Palestinian officials from entering the United States underscores the growing rift between Washington and the Palestinian leadership as questions swirl around the PA’s ties to Hamas and its role in the future of Gaza.

Despite the visa controversy, the UN greenlit Abbas’s virtual speech with a 145-5 vote, once again elevating the Palestinian leader on the world stage a move that flies in the face of recent U.S. diplomatic concerns.

In a preview of what’s to come, Abbas gave a speech earlier this week during a France-Saudi Arabia event where he:

• Demanded an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

• Called on Hamas to surrender all weapons to the PA.

• Insisted that only the PA should govern a future Palestinian state.

• Reiterated his condemnation of Hamas for its brutal October 7, 2023 massacre.

“Hamas will have no role in governance,” Abbas declared. “We want one unified state, without arms outside the framework of the law.”

It’s a stunning turn from the same leader whose regime has spent decades dancing around terror groups and whitewashing extremism through political maneuvering and UN theatrics.

The Palestinian Authority hasn’t held a national election since 2006, and its grip on the West Bank has only grown more authoritarian over time. The PA was sidelined long ago after Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007, following a bloody internal coup. Abbas has presided over a government that is more symbolic than functional and now, as international attention once again shifts toward Gaza, he's pushing to be back in charge.

But not everyone is buying it.

The U.S. State Department recently stated that the PA must "consistently repudiate terrorism including the October 7 massacre before it can be considered partners for peace.” That’s a polite way of saying: we don’t trust you.

And for good reason.

• Abbas’s government has routinely paid stipends to the families of terrorists.

• Palestinian Authority schools have used textbooks that glorify martyrdom and demonize Israel.

• And despite his condemnation of Hamas, Abbas still refuses to take full responsibility for the environment that allowed groups like Hamas to thrive in the first place.

Abbas now claims to be pushing a bold reform plan restructuring financial systems, rewriting school curricula to meet UNESCO standards, establishing a welfare program, and promising presidential and parliamentary elections within one year of the war’s end.

Of course, promises of “reform” have been the Palestinian Authority’s go-to public relations tool for years and it has never delivered. While Arab states and some Western powers are now pushing to recognize a "state of Palestine," the Trump administration held firm, refusing to rubber-stamp a regime that funds terror and undermines peace at every turn.

As Abbas prepares to address the UN from afar, his vision for Gaza sounds more like a desperate PR campaign than a serious governing proposal. If the Palestinian Authority truly wants to be seen as a legitimate player, it will need to do more than condemn Hamas it will need to clean house, hold real elections, and stop playing both sides of the war on terror.

Until then, the U.S. is right to keep its distance.

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