The United States will impose sanctions on Palestinian Authority (PA) officials and Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) members for actions that allegedly undermine peace efforts, the State Department announced Thursday. The measures will block these individuals from receiving travel visas to European Union member states under Section 604(a)(1) of MEPCA. "It is in our national security interests to impose consequences and hold the PLO and PA accountable for not complying with their commitments and undermining the prospects for peace," the statement declared.
The State Department informed Congress that the PLO and PA have failed to fulfill their obligations under the 1989 PLO Commitments Compliance Act (PLOCCA) and the 2002 Middle East Peace Commitments Act (MEPCA).
These violations include initiating and backing actions in international organizations that undermine and contradict earlier commitments supporting UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, pursuing efforts to internationalize their conflict with Israel through venues like the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Court of Justice (ICJ), maintaining support for terrorism including incitement and celebration of violence (especially in educational materials), and distributing payments and benefits supporting terrorism to Palestinian attackers and their families.
These sanctions follow Wednesday's Treasury Department announcement of comprehensive sanctions targeting an international network of dozens of individuals, companies, and vessels that allegedly assisted Iran in evading oil sector sanctions. The massive sanctions package encompasses 15 shipping companies, 52 vessels, 12 individuals, and 53 entities across 17 countries.
Under this action, companies operating in the United Arab Emirates, India, Singapore, Switzerland, Turkey, China, the Marshall Islands, and additional countries were placed on the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) terrorism list – all suspected of participating in transportation, financing, or concealment of prohibited oil transactions for Iran's regime.
Meanwhile, European Union commissioners this week proposed partially suspending Israel's participation in the European Horizon research program due to the humanitarian situation in Gaza. This specific suspension affects Israeli startups and small companies' participation in the European Innovation Council (EIC) accelerator.
