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 rival Hamas in Gaza.

"Secretary of State Marco Rubio is denying and revoking visas from members of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA) ahead of the upcoming United Nations General Assembly," the State Department said in a statement.

"The Trump administration has been clear: it is in our national security interests to hold the P

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