WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced on Thursday that the US office in Jerusalem dealing with Palestinians is being merged into the controversial new US embassy in the city.

Pompeo said the US Consulate General, a separate office which formerly handled dealings with Palestinians, would be replaced by a new Palestinian Affairs Unit inside the embassy.

The move, which was quickly condemned by the Palestine Liberation Organisation, could effectively leave the US as the only major power without a specific representative office to the Palestinians.

Pompeo denied the decision represented a shift in relations between Washington and the Palestinians, but it came after a series of moves, including shuttering the Palestinian mission in Washington, that have angered them.

“This decision is driven by our global efforts to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our operations. It does not signal a change of US policy on Jerusalem, the West Bank, or the Gaza Strip,” Pompeo said in a statement.

He said that the United States “continues to take no position” on how any peace deal between the Israelis and Palestinians would take shape.

“The administration is strongly committed to achieving a lasting and comprehensive peace that offers a brighter future to Israel and the Palestinians,” he said.

The move was the latest in a series of steps Washington has taken that have effectively downgraded its relationship with the Palestinians, who have for decades sought a separate state alongside Israel.

Analysts say the US moves aim to pressure the Palestinians into peace talks with Israel. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner has been in talks with the Israelis on a still-secret peace plan he has reportedly devised.

Last December Trump shook the always-tenuous relationship with the Palestinians to its core when he announced he would recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, effectively ignoring Palestinian claims on the Holy City and breaking with the policies of his predecessors.

The embassy was officially transferred on May 14, sparking violent protests in Gaza where about 60 Palestinian protesters were killed by Israeli fire.

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2018