WASHINGTON: The United States said Friday it will deny visas to members of the Palestinian Authority to attend next month’s UN General Assembly, where France is leading a push to recognize a Palestinian state. The extraordinary step further aligns President Donald Trump’s administration with Israel’s government, which adamantly rejects a Palestinian state and has sought to lump together the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority with Hamas in Gaza.

The U.S. State Department announced on Friday that Secretary of State Marco Rubio is "denying and revoking visas" from members of the Palestine Liberation Organization and…

The US, as a host of the UN, is not supposed to refuse visas for officials heading to the world body.