Washington: The US announced Friday that it would not grant visas to Palestinian Authority officials to attend the UN General Assembly next month, as France intends to recognize the State of Palestine.

According to Qatar News Agency, the US State Department stated that Secretary of State Marco Rubio is denying and revoking visas for members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA) ahead of the UN General Assembly. The State Department emphasized that it is in the national security interest of the United States to hold the PLO and the PA accountable for not fulfilling their commitments and undermining peace prospects.

The State Department highlighted the necessity for the Palestinian Authority to cease attempts to bypass negotiations through campaigns in international law and efforts to gain unilateral recognition of a hypothetical Palestinian state. It accused the Palestinians of engaging in “lawfare” by turning to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to prosecute Israel.

The US State Department also reiterated its commitment to the agreement by allowing the presence of the Palestinian mission to the United Nations. Under the agreement between the US and the UN as the host country of the UN in New York, Washington is not supposed to deny visas to officials traveling to the organization.