US may upgrade diplomatic mission to Palestinians

Washington, June 9 (UNI) The Biden has signalled that it is upgrading its diplomatic mission to Palestinians, which is currently located within the US embassy in Jerusalem, after former President Donald Trump downgraded the status of the mission, Al Jazeera reported on Thursday.
The Palestinian Affairs Unit (PAU), which operated within the US embassy in Israel, will now be redesignated as the US Office of Palestinian Affairs (OPA), and, while remaining within the embassy in Israel, will report directly to the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs in the US Department of State “on substantive matters”.
The PAU was created in 2019 when Trump decided to close the US consulate in occupied East Jerusalem, which had served as the de facto embassy for the Palestinians.
The move, while incremental, indicates the latest shift in the US’s approach as it seeks to mend frayed relations with Palestinians that deteriorated under Trump.
However, there was no updates on the pledges to reopen the consulate.
Following the closure of the consulate by Trump, the staff and functions of the mission remained largely identical, but the downgrade meant they fell under the US ambassador to Israel and the mission no longer maintained a distinct US-Palestinian bilateral track.
Palestinian officials did not immediately comment on the redesignation.
The closure of the consulate and the decision by Trump to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in 2018 enraged Palestinians, who want occupied East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.