September 1, 2025 | 01:23 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Following the United States' decision to cancel the visas of Palestinian officials who were set to attend the UN General Assembly in New York, Luxembourg's Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel proposed holding a special session of the UN General Assembly in Geneva, Switzerland.
"Yesterday, we received information from our sources that U.S. authorities will not issue visas to Palestinian authorities, representatives of the Palestinian Authority ... to travel to New York for the General Assembly," said Bettel ahead of an informal meeting between EU foreign ministers on Saturday, as reported by Antara and The New Arab.
Therefore, Bettel suggested holding the UN General Assembly in Geneva to facilitate discussions with the Palestinians.
He stated that Palestine should not be marginalized from the ongoing discussions because "we should be able to discuss everything together."
In addition, Bettel also expressed his frustration that EU countries failed to reach a consensus on imposing sanctions on Israel for its actions that led to the deterioration of the situation in Gaza.
On Friday, the U.S. State Department reaffirmed its decision to revoke the visas of members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority ahead of the UN General Assembly at the end of this month.
The U.S. State Department confirmed that 80 officials had been denied visas, including officials from the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO).
"Abbas is affected by this action along with approximately 80 other PA officials," a U.S. State Department official said in a statement.
"It is in our national security interests to hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments, and for undermining the prospects for peace," the U.S. State Department statement said.
Nevertheless, the U.S. promised to grant exemptions for the Palestinian Authority delegation at the UN based on an agreement between the U.S. and the UN regarding the UN headquarters.
Israeli forces have killed at least 78 Palestinians in Gaza on Sunday, including 32 aid workers, according to medical sources as reported by Al Jazeera.
Since the war began, Israel has killed at least 63,459 Palestinians in Gaza, the majority of whom are women and children. The attacks have also injured 160,256 people.
A total of 1,139 people have died in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023, and about 200 people have been detained.
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