ISTANBUL

The US House of Representatives on Tuesday passed a bill to expand the ban on entry into the US for officials of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), in addition to Hamas and Islamic Jihad movement members.

Under the bill, which still needs approval from both the Senate and the president to become law, “members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad or Hamas or who participated in or otherwise facilitated the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on Israel may not be admitted into the United States,” according to Congress.

“The bill also expands an existing admissions bar against officers, representatives, and spokespersons of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). Under this bill, all PLO members are barred from admission into the US,” Congress said on its website.

“The bill also prohibits any non-US national who participated in or otherwise facilitated the October 7, 2023, attacks from seeking any immigration-related relief or protections, including protection from being deported to a country where the individual's life or freedom would be threatened, or asylum in the US,” it added.

Israel launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, killing at least 27,019 Palestinians and injuring 66,139. Nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli offensive has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio