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The U.S. volition supply on-site passport services this week successful a colony successful the West Bank, marking the archetypal clip American consular officials person offered such services to settlers successful the occupied territory, U.S. officials said connected Tuesday (February 24, 2026).
Most of the satellite considers Israel’s West Bank settlements illegal nether planetary instrumentality relating to subject occupations. Israel disputes that the settlements are illegal, and galore connected the Israeli close advocator annexing the West Bank.
Palestinians person agelong sought the West Bank for a aboriginal autarkic state, alongside Gaza and East Jerusalem.
This month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing furniture approved measures making it easier for settlers to prehend Palestinian land.
Tens of thousands of American-Israelis successful West Bank
U.S. President Donald Trump, a staunch supporter of Israel, has said helium opposes Israeli annexation of the West Bank. But his medication has not taken immoderate measures to halt colony activity, which rights groups accidental has risen since helium took bureau past year.
In a station connected X, the U.S. Embassy successful Jerusalem said that arsenic portion of efforts to scope each Americans abroad, “consular officers volition beryllium providing regular passport services successful Efrat connected Friday, February 27,” referring to a colony southbound of the Palestinian metropolis of Bethlehem.
The Embassy said it would program akin on-site services successful the Palestinian West Bank metropolis of Ramallah, successful the colony of Beitar Illit adjacent Bethlehem, and successful cities wrong Israel specified arsenic Haifa.
The U.S. offers passport and consular services astatine its Embassy successful Jerusalem arsenic good arsenic astatine a Tel Aviv subdivision office. The fig of dual American-Israeli nationals surviving successful the West Bank is estimated to beryllium successful the tens of thousands.
Asked for comment, an embassy spokesperson said: “This is the archetypal clip we person provided consular services to a colony successful the West Bank.” The spokesperson said akin services were being offered to American-Palestinian dual nationals successful the West Bank.
‘De facto annexation’
Last week, Israel’s Cabinet approved measures to tighten the country’s power implicit the West Bank and marque it easier for settlers to bargain land, a determination Palestinians called a “de facto annexation”. Much of the West Bank is nether Israeli subject control, with constricted Palestinian self-rule successful immoderate areas run by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority.
Mr. Netanyahu’s ruling coalition, which has a ample elector basal successful the settlements, includes galore members who privation Israel to annex the West Bank, onshore captured successful the 1967 Middle East warfare to which Israel cites biblical and humanities ties.
Efrat, the Jewish colony wherever American consular officials volition supply passport services connected Friday (February 27, 20260, is location to galore American immigrants. The U.S. Embassy said it did not person information connected the fig of Americans surviving there.
More than 500,000 Israeli settlers unrecorded successful the West Bank, location to 3 cardinal Palestinians. Most settlements are tiny towns surrounded by fences and guarded by Israeli soldiers.
