Pompeo said the US will no longer adhere to the 1978 State Department legal opinion on the settlements, and insisted that it would not lead to US's isolation from the rest of the global community on the issue. 

The US's top diplomat said the Trump administration will leave the status of the West Bank to Israelis and Palestinians to negotiate.

Pompeo said the decision came as the result of a "legal review" and was not intended to send any message, though the move is likely to anger the Palestinian side and human rights groups who have condemned the settlements and say they undermine peace efforts.

The Trump administration has been a staunch ally of Netanyahu's government and consistently taken Israel's side on major issues, calling into question Washington's ability to be a neutral arbiter in any peace process. In 2017, Trump recognized the contested Jerusalem as Israel's capital and moved the US embassy there from Tel Aviv. Last year, Trump recognized Israel's 1981 seizure of Syria's Golan Heights as legitimate.

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