The Media Line: Sanctions Against PA Officials Could Prevent Traveling to UN Security Council Meeting in September, Legal Expert Says

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Sanctions Against PA Officials Could Prevent Traveling to UN Security Council Meeting in September, Legal Expert Says

International Lawyer and expert on sanctions, Marc Zell, tells TML that the aim is to target Palestinian leaders with terror ties for violating 2002 peace agreement

By Felice Friedson / The Media Line

In a significant move, the US State Department has announced it will issue sanctions against leaders of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA) for noncompliance with previous peace agreements and involvement in terrorism.

Such a move includes the restriction of travel visas to the United States, which may prevent sanctioned PA officials from traveling to the UN Security Council meeting in September, where representatives of several countries, including Canada and France, are expected to announce recognition of a Palestinian state.

The Media Line spoke to Marc Zell, an international lawyer, expert on sanctions and Chairman of Republicans Overseas, explained the violation of the agreements that led the State Department to declare sanctions.

“The PLO and the Palestinian Authority were required to make commitments as part of the peace process back in 2002,” Zell explained. “And because they are doing what they’re doing at the ICJ (International Court of Justic) and the ICC (International Criminal Court) and in their textbooks and in other activities that they’re engaging in, they are supporting terrorism in the eyes of the United States government and therefore subject to sanctions for immigration sanctions.” He added, “No visas for PLO officials seeking to come to the United States.”

The activities include involvement in terrorism and producing textbooks and other educational materials encouraging children to become involved in terrorist acts. In addition, their actions aimed at delegitimizing Israel in the ICC and the ICJ, and the influence they wielded that resulted in arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, are also seen as violations of previous agreements, leading to the sanctions.

Responding to the news of the sanctions, Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar posted on X: “I thank [U.S.] Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the U.S. State Department for their moral clarity in imposing sanctions on members of the Palestinian Authority and PLO,” writes Sa’ar, saying the PA “must pay a price for its ongoing policy of paying terrorists and their families for carrying out attacks, and for its incitement against Israel in schools, textbooks, mosques, and the Palestinian media.”