US sanctions PA following PMW report to Marco Rubio

One week ago, Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) sent a special 20-page report to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, detailing the Palestinian Authority's ongoing violations of U.S. law through its engagement with the International Criminal Court (ICC). PMW's report documented extensive evidence and explicitly recommended that the U.S. impose sanctions on the Palestinian Authority.

Today, the United States announced sanctions on the PA for precisely these violations – along with additional breaches of U.S. law that PMW has repeatedly exposed:

The State Department informed Congress that the PLO and PA are "not in compliance with their commitments… taking actions to internationalize its conflict with Israel such as through the International Criminal Court (ICC)and International Court of Justice (ICJ), continuing to support terrorism including incitement and glorification of violence (especially in textbooks), and providing payments and benefits in support of terrorism to Palestinian terrorists and their families (all exposed by PMW - PMW Note). The United States is imposing sanctions that deny visas to PLO members and PA officials…"

PMW has long revealed that the PA not only defies U.S. law but openly boasts about doing so. PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas bragged about rejecting U.S. pressure, declaring: "I have told the Americans ‘no' more than 30 times… The biggest ‘no' we told the Americans was when they pressured us not to approach the international courts – the ICC."

Below is the letter and report PMW submitted to Rubio in early July, followed by an updated report sent on July 24.

Perhaps now Abbas will think twice before boasting.

July 24, 2025

To: The Honorable Marco Rubio
Secretary of State of the United States
US Department of State
Washington, D.C.

July 2025

Subject: Sanctions Against Palestinian Authority Officials for Engaging in Efforts to Have the International Criminal Court Prosecute Israelis

Dear Secretary Rubio,

Executive Order 14203 signed by President Donald J. Trump on Feb. 6, 2025,calls for "tangible and significant consequences" to be enforced against "any foreign person determined by the Secretary of State… to have directly engaged in any effort by the ICC to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute a protected person," including "our close ally Israel." It adds, "For the purposes of this order: (a) the term ‘person' means an individual or entity; (b) the term ‘entity' means a government or instrumentality of such government."

I formally request that the US State Department investigate whether the terms of the president's Executive Order apply to the Palestinian Authority (PA), the PLO, their officials and all Palestinian entities who have actively aided, coordinated, and taken credit for the ICC's investigation of Israel and Israelis and the ICC's decision to issue arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Moreover, after the President announced the Executive Order, the PA did not withdraw its complaints but has continued its active work through its legal teams. The PA prepared new complaints which were submitted in July 2025 through a legal team that the Palestinian Bar Association had given Power of Attorney to submit the Palestinian complaints. PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas recently bragged that "the biggest ‘no' that we told the Americans, was when they pressured us not to approach the international courts – the ICC."

The following is some of the extensive evidence of the PA, PLO and its senior officials' engagement with the ICC, expressed openly by PA officials and representatives and transmitted through the official PA media. All source material in Arabic will be supplied upon request.

Thank you in advance for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Itamar Marcus
Palestinian Media Watch, Director

To view the full report in PDF format, click the here: