Pompeo reportedly to visit Israeli West Bank settlement
The US secretary of state is expected to make an unprecedented visit to Psagot, an Israeli settlement in what is globally recognized as Palestinian territory, on his current trip to the Middle East.
Mike Pompeo will reportedly visit an Israeli settlement in the West Bank on his current Middle East trip. The stop would make him the first US secretary of state to visit one of the settlements, which are considered illegal by most states.
The Israeli news outlets Haaretz and Walla! reported Thursday that Pompeo will visit the Psagot settlement east of the Palestinian capital Ramallah.
The West Bank is internationally recognized as Palestinian territory occupied by Israel. The Israeli military directly administers some areas, while the Palestinian Authority governs others. Israel captured the West Bank during the 1967 war with Jordan. Thousands of Jewish Israeli settlers live there alongside the Palestinian-majority population.
The United States viewed the settlements as illegal for decades across Republican and Democratic administrations. However, in 2019 Pompeo said that the settlements' existence "is not per se inconsistent with international law.”
