Ramallah: Palestinian officials and groups on Wednesday condemned the US Embassy's decision to provide consular services in the Israeli settlement of Efrat in the occupied West Bank, labeling it a 'dangerous precedent' and 'practical recognition' of Israel's settlement activity.
According to Anadolu Agency, the US Embassy announced on Tuesday that it would begin offering passport and citizenship services to US citizens in Efrat, located south of Bethlehem, starting Friday. The embassy also stated on social media platform X that consular staff will conduct additional visits over the next two months, including to the settlement of Beitar Illit near Bethlehem.
Efrat is situated in the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, which is built on land Israel occupied in 1967. The United Nations and the international community consider Israeli settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, illegal under international law. Wasel Abu Youssef, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) Executive Committee, criticized the US move as illegal and indicative of Washington's treatment of the settlements as part of Israel, attempting to legitimize the occupation.
Youssef emphasized that numerous UN Security Council resolutions affirm the illegality of settlement activity, along with legal opinions from the International Court of Justice, which confirm the inadmissibility of settlements in occupied territories. He argued that this US decision effectively constitutes implicit approval of Israel's annexation of the West Bank.
Salah al-Khawaja, director of the Wall and Settlement Resistance Commission office in the central West Bank, described the decision as 'a dangerous development toward legalizing outposts and settlements.' He stated that the embassy's announcement challenges the international legal system and the International Court of Justice ruling that affirms Palestinian political jurisdiction over the occupied territory and considers settlements illegal.
Mustafa Barghouti, secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative party, called the decision 'unprecedented' in US policy toward the Palestinian issue. He noted a shift from the traditional US position opposing settlement activity to one that now accepts settlements. Barghouti highlighted that the decision is 'a flagrant violation of international law,' as the UN Security Council and the United Nations have condemned Israeli settlements.
Hamas, in their statement, called the US move a 'dangerous precedent' and 'practical recognition' of the settlements. They asserted that the decision represents 'blatant alignment with the occupation's Judaization plans' and amounts to 'a public violation of international law, which criminalizes settlement activity.' Hamas emphasized that this step could impose new political realities undermining Palestinian national rights.
The international community and the United Nations regard the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as occupied Palestinian territory, and consider Israeli settlement activity there as 'illegal' under international law.