The United States signs an agreement to build a new, permanent embassy compound in Jerusalem, according to multiple reports. The deal is signed in Jerusalem at Israel’s foreign ministry, where US ambassador Mike Huckabee says Washington recognises Jerusalem as the “eternal, indigenous, and forever capital of the Jewish people.” Israel’s government describes the move as reflecting the “unbreakable alliance” between the two countries.

All sources link the announcement to the US embassy relocation initiated under President Donald Trump. In December 2017, Trump recognises Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and orders the US diplomatic mission to move from Tel Aviv. Before a single permanent site is selected, US services operate across several locations in Jerusalem.

The agreement specifies that the new embassy will be built at the Allenby compound in southern Jerusalem. The reports also note that the move departs from decades of US policy in which Jerusalem’s final status was expected to be settled through Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. The city remains contested, with Palestinians seeking East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state and many countries keeping embassies in Tel Aviv on the view that final status should be negotiated in line with international law and UN resolutions.