The United States downgraded its diplomatic mission to the Palestinians on Monday, the latest in a series of steps by President Donald Trump's White House Palestinian leaders say is aimed at wiping out their cause.
The move, following a decision announced in October, closes the US Jerusalem consulate general that had acted independently and served as a de-facto embassy to the Palestinians since the Oslo accords of the 1990s.
It will be merged with the US embassy to Israel, where a new Palestinian affairs unit will operate.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the move will not constitute a change in policy and is intended to improve "efficiency and effectiveness".
The State Department said Monday that "the administration remains fully committed to efforts to achieve a lasting and comprehensive peace that offers a brighter future to Israel and the Palestinians".
But the change means Washington's relations with the Palestinians will now fall under the authority of US ambassador to Israel David Friedman, who has been a supporter of Israeli settlement building in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinians view him - along with Trump's administration - as blatantly biased in favour of Israel.
Palestinian leaders froze contact with the White House after Trump's 2017 decision recognising Jerusalem as Israel's capital and castigated the consulate closure.
Saeb Erekat, Palestine Liberation Organisation secretary general, called the closure "the last nail in the coffin of the US administration's role in peacemaking".
Senior Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi said "the Trump administration is intent on leaving no room for doubt about its hostility towards the Palestinian people and their inalienable rights as well as its abject disregard for international law and its obligations under the law".
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