Why has US reversed policy on Israeli settlements?

US secretary of state says Washington no longer finds settlements illegal

Two major West Bank settlements could soon fall within Jerusalem's city limits
(Image credit: Ahmad Gharabli/AFP/Getty Images)

The US has announced that it no longer considers Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank to be inconsistent with international law.

Announcing the shift in position, which reverses four decades of US policy, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told the media that “after carefully studying all sides of the legal debate, the United States has concluded that the establishment of Israeli civilian settlements in the West Bank is not, per se, inconsistent with international law”.

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