{"id":5111,"date":"2026-02-25T19:36:51","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T19:36:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/02\/25\/us-consular-services-in-illegal-israeli-settlement-in-west-bank-condemned\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T19:36:51","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T19:36:51","slug":"us-consular-services-in-illegal-israeli-settlement-in-west-bank-condemned","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/02\/25\/us-consular-services-in-illegal-israeli-settlement-in-west-bank-condemned\/","title":{"rendered":"US consular services in illegal Israeli settlement in West Bank condemned"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><em>US move to provide consular services in Efrat settlement slammed as breach of international law.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement on Wednesday, Hamas described the move as \u201ca dangerous precedent\u201d and \u201ca practical recognition of the legitimacy of colonial-settlements and the occupation\u2019s control over the West Bank\u201d.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 4 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/2\/24\/us-to-provide-consular-services-in-illegal-israeli-settlement\">US to provide consular services in illegal Israeli settlement<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/video\/newsfeed\/2026\/2\/25\/netanyahu-greets-indian-pm-modi-as-he-lands-in-israel\">Netanyahu greets Indian PM Modi as he lands in Israel<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/features\/2026\/2\/25\/lebanons-second-airport-could-receive-passengers-by-summer-officials-say\">Lebanon\u2019s second airport could receive passengers by summer, officials say<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 4 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/video\/newsfeed\/2026\/2\/25\/palestinian-filmmaker-showcases-the-beauty-of-pre-war-gaza\">Palestinian filmmaker showcases the beauty of pre-war Gaza<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>The Palestine Liberation Organization\u2019s Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission said in a statement the decision \u201cconstitutes a clear violation of international law and a blatant favouring of the occupation authorities\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>On Tuesday, the US embassy in Jerusalem announced it would start <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/2\/24\/us-to-provide-consular-services-in-illegal-israeli-settlement\">providing passport services<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Minister Mu\u2019ayyad Sha\u2019ban, 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 \u201centails a breach of the principle of nonrecognition of an unlawful situation \u2013 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\u201d.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"de-facto-annexation\">\u2018De facto annexation\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>Hamas said the decision \u201cunveils 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\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Israel\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed the decision and thanked the US \u201cfor making the relation between Israel and the US closer and stronger than ever\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The news comes as Israel continues to extend its reach in the occupied West Bank and accelerates settlement expansions.<\/p>\n<p>On Monday, the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was accused of \u201c<a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/2\/24\/nearly-20-countries-slam-israels-de-facto-annexation-drive-in-west-bank\">de facto annexation<\/a>\u201d 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.<\/p>\n<p>The plan is \u201creclassifying Palestinian land as so-called Israeli \u2018state land\u2019, accelerating illegal \u2060settlement activity, and further entrenching Israeli administration\u201d, the ministers said.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/INTERACTIVE-Occupied-West-Bank-Israel-approves-19-new-illegal-settlements-1766394958.png?quality=80\" alt=\"INTERACTIVE - Occupied West Bank - Israel approves 19 new illegal settlements-1766394958\" data-interactive=\"true\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>US move to provide consular services in Efrat settlement slammed as breach of international law. 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 \u201ca dangerous &#8230; <a title=\"US consular services in illegal Israeli settlement in West Bank condemned\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2026\/02\/25\/us-consular-services-in-illegal-israeli-settlement-in-west-bank-condemned\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about US consular services in illegal Israeli settlement in West Bank condemned\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5112,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5111\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}