The US House of Representatives adopted many resolutions in support of Israel (Al Jazeera)

The US House of Representatives approved a bill expanding the ban on the entry of Palestine Liberation Organization officials into the United States, in addition to members of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and Islamic Jihad.

According to the US Congress website, 422 members of the US House of Representatives voted in favor of passing the bill, compared to two votes in opposition and only one representative voting in attendance.

The draft law, also called the “Law Not Granting Immigration Benefits to Hamas Terrorists,” proposes expanding the US ban on PLO officials to include all of its members, according to the same source.

The project, presented by Republican Representative Tom McClintock, proposes banning Hamas members and others involved in the October 7 attack (the Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood) from entering the United States.

Under the bill, “members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hamas, or those who participated in or otherwise facilitated the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel shall not be permitted to enter the United States.”

The draft resolution expands the existing ban on the entry of officials, representatives and speakers of the Palestine Liberation Organization into American territory, to include all members of the organization, according to the website.

After the House of Representatives votes, the project must be approved by the Senate and then the President, in order for it to become a valid law, according to the Congress website.

Palestinian criticism

In his response to the draft law, Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Hussein Al-Sheikh, said that the US House of Representatives’ approval of the ban on the entry of members of the organization into the United States is “a dangerous decision that affects the rights of our people.”

The Sheikh added, in a tweet on the X platform, that the US administration must “clarify” this decision.

The US House of Representatives’ approval of a ban on the entry of members of the Palestine Liberation Organization into the United States of America is a dangerous decision towards the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. We consider it a decision that harms the rights of our Palestinian people and goes beyond the international position that recognizes these rights and recognizes the organization as the sole legitimate representative of the people...

- Hussein AlSheikh (@HusseinSheikhpl) February 1, 2024

The Hamas movement said in a statement, "We condemn" the US House of Representatives' approval of a draft law prohibiting the entry of Palestinians belonging to the PLO and Palestinian factions into the United States of America because of their political opinions and affiliations.

The movement considered this decision “hostile to our people, and a continuation of President Biden’s administration’s approach to restricting them.”

She pointed out that the decision is “biased and serves the Zionist enemy in its comprehensive war on our Palestinian people, and places President Biden’s administration in the category of a partner of the Nazi occupation.”

The United States previously closed the Palestine Liberation Organization office in Washington in September 2018.

Source: Agencies