During a phone call earlier today with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio conveyed Washington’s “strong opposition to any unilateral recognition of a Palestinian State, the State Department says.
The US readout calls such recognitions a “reward for Hamas for October 7 and hinder efforts to bring all hostages home,” falling in line with Israel’s approach to the move.
While US President Donald Trump has at times expressed a softer stance, saying that world leaders have a right to their own opinions on the matter, Rubio has led a series of more hardline steps by the administration, including withholding visas to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and his delegation who had hoped to attend the UN General Assembly where France, the UK, Australia, Canada and Belgium are slated to recognize Palestine later this month.
No such visa bans are being applied to the representatives themselves who plan on issuing those declarations.
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Tuesday, September 2, 2025
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