The United States will, for the first time, provide on-site consular services in two Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, a move that breaks with long-standing US policy and has drawn sharp criticism from Palestinian officials.
In a post on X, the US embassy in Jerusalem said it would offer routine passport services to American citizens in the settlement of Efrat on Friday, describing the move as part of activities marking the 250th anniversary of US independence. The service will be available “for one day only”.
Israeli settlements in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, are considered illegal under international law. Efrat lies about 12 kilometres South of Jerusalem and has a population of roughly 12,000 Israeli settlers.
The Palestinian Authority’s Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission condemned the initiative, calling it “a clear violation of international law” and accusing Washington of favouring Israel’s occupation policies.
The head of the commission, Mu’ayyad Shaa’ban, said the move entrenched the settlement enterprise and undermined prospects for an independent and sovereign Palestinian state.
Hamas described the decision as “a dangerous precedent”, saying it amounted to practical recognition of the legitimacy of Israeli settlements and control over the West Bank.
The US embassy said similar consular services would be offered in the coming months in another settlement, Beitar Illit. It also plans to provide services in the Palestinian city of Ramallah and in three cities inside Israel.
Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Saar, welcomed the decision, thanking the US for extending services to Efrat and referring to the West Bank by its biblical name, Judea and Samaria.
Hugh Lovatt, a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations, said the wider political context of the move was significant. He noted that the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, has publicly supported the idea of a “Greater Israel” stretching from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.
“This signals that the US will not treat settlements in the West Bank any differently from towns inside Israel,” Lovatt said.
The announcement comes a week after Israel’s cabinet approved measures aimed at tightening control over the West Bank and easing land purchases by settlers, steps Palestinians have described as a de facto annexation.
Donald Trump has said he opposes formal Israeli annexation of the West Bank, in line with long-standing US policy. However, his administration has not taken action to curb settlement expansion, which has increased since he returned to office last year.
Violence in the West Bank has risen sharply since the war in Gaza began in October 2023. Settler attacks and Israeli army raids have become more frequent.
Last week, Israeli settlers shot and killed a Palestinian American man during an attack on a village, according to the Palestinian health ministry and a witness. On Tuesday, arson attacks were reported on Palestinian homes in Masafer Yatta and nearby villages in the south Hebron Hills.
The US currently offers passport and consular services at its embassy in Jerusalem and at a branch office in Tel Aviv. Tens of thousands of dual American-Israeli citizens are believed to live in the West Bank.
More than 500,000 Israeli settlers live in the territory, alongside around 3 million Palestinians. Most settlements are fortified towns, surrounded by fences and protected by Israeli soldiers.
