US consular services in illegal Israeli settlement in West Bank condemned 

Hamas and the Palestinian Authority (PA) have condemned an announcement by the United States that it will offer consular services at a settlement in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

In a statement on Wednesday, Hamas described the move as “a dangerous precedent” and “a practical recognition of the legitimacy of colonial-settlements and the occupation’s control over the West Bank”.

The Palestine Liberation Organization’s Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said in a statement the decision “constitutes a clear violation of international law and a blatant favouring of the occupation authorities”.

On Tuesday, the US embassy in Jerusalem announced it would start providing passport services at the Efrat settlement, located between Bethlehem and Hebron, on Friday. All Israeli settlements and outposts in the West Bank are illegal under international law.

Similar services are being planned for the Beitar Illit settlement, the Palestinian city of Ramallah and in other cities in Israel, the embassy said. Currently, the US offers consular and passport services at its embassy in West Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

Minister Mu’ayyad Sha’ban, head of the PA commission, noted that all settlements are illegal under the Fourth Geneva Convention. He added that extending consular services to an illegal settlement “entails a breach of the principle of nonrecognition of an unlawful situation – a well-established norm in international law that obliges states to refrain from any action that would confer official or practical legitimacy upon the consequences of serious violations”.

Hamas said the decision “unveils the stark contradiction in the stances of the US administration, which claims to oppose the West Bank annexation, while taking field steps that reinforce annexation and entrench Israeli sovereignty over our occupied land”.

Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the decision and thanked the US “for making the relation between Israel and the US closer and stronger than ever”.

The news comes as Israel continues to extend its reach in the occupied West Bank and accelerates settlement expansions.

On Monday, the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was accused of “de facto annexation” of Palestinian land by the foreign ministers of 19 countries, including Qatar, Turkiye, France, Brazil, Egypt and Saudi Arabia. Their statement was released in response to Israeli plans to begin land registration in Area C of the West Bank and claim areas as state property if Palestinians fail to prove ownership. Area C, which Israel directly controls, makes up 60 percent of the West Bank.

The plan is “reclassifying Palestinian land as so-called Israeli ‘state land’, accelerating illegal ⁠settlement activity, and further entrenching Israeli administration”, the ministers said.

About 465,000 settlers live on Palestinian land, many of whom are dual US-Israeli citizens. The Efrat settlement, located within the Gush Etzion settlement cluster, is home to a number of American residents.