The United States has denied Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas an entry visa to attend the UN General Assembly in New York next week, a source familiar with the case said Wednesday, AFP reports.

In a separate statement that did not mention Abbas by name, the US State Department say it would deny visas to members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and officials with the Palestinian Authority (PA), "as a consequence of their failure to reform, contrary to their commitments to the United States, and their ongoing activities that undermine the prospects for peace."

Washington also accused the organizations of "taking actions to internationalize the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict including through the International Criminal Court (ICC) and International Court of Justice (ICJ), seeking to bypass negotiations through seeking unilateral recognition, and continuing to pay stipends to terrorists and to glorify acts of terrorism and terrorists in public pronouncements and school textbooks."

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry called the US decision unfounded. The ministry stated that it contradicts the restoration of trust and the development of Palestinian-American relations, as well as efforts to create conditions for the resolution of disputes between the two states.

Also, the Palestinian side expressed bewilderment that Washington, in their assessment, does not take into account the reforms that have been implemented in Palestine. Among them were changes in the social assistance system, as well as in the financial, administrative, educational, and legal spheres. The Trump administration took the same step last year, forcing the Palestinian leader, a regular at the UN General Assembly, to address the body of global leadership by video.

The move puts the United States at odds with numerous countries, including France, that recognized a Palestinian state at the UN last year. A total of 142 UN member states endorsed it following the conference on a two-state solution co-chaired by France and Saudi Arabia.