US suspends issuing most types of entry visas to Palestinians - NYT

The United States has temporarily suspended the issuance of almost all types of visitor visas for Palestinian passport holders, the New York Times (NYT) noted, Report informs.

According to the newspaper, these measures, "laid out in an August 18 cable sent by State Department headquarters to all US embassies and consulates, would also prevent many Palestinians from the Israeli-occupied West Bank and in the Palestinian diaspora from entering the United States on various types of nonimmigrant visas, according to four US officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information."

The NYT noted that "the new measures affect visas for medical treatment, university studies, visits to friends or relatives and business travel, at least temporarily."

"They do not apply to Palestinians with dual nationalities using other passports or those who have already obtained visas," the newspaper pointed out.

"It was not clear what prompted the visa curbs," the New York Times said.