Washington DC - President Donald Trump's administration said Tuesday that the US would end a separate office for Palestinian affairs in Jerusalem, a largely symbolic step that supports the Israeli position.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio "has decided to merge the responsibilities of the Office of the Palestinian Affairs office fully into other sections of the United States embassy," State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce told reporters.

Trump, in his first term, moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a major win for Israel, which considers the contested holy city its eternal capital.

In doing so, Trump closed a historic consulate in Jerusalem that had served US diplomatic outreach to the Palestinians.

Israel-Gaza War Trump administration ordered to produce records in detained Georgetown academic's case

Rubio's predecessor, Antony Blinken, sought to reopen the consulate while maintaining the embassy in Jerusalem, but Israel resisted the move.

The US instead set up the separate Office for Palestinian Affairs, which was still inside the embassy but reported separately to Washington.

The closing of the separate office comes as Israel wages an unrelenting assault on Gaza in response to the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government fiercely opposing moves toward a Palestinian state.

Bruce played down a wider significance to Tuesday's announcement on the Palestinian office, saying it reverted to policy under Trump's first term.

The decision is "not a reflection on any outreach, or commitment to outreach, to the people of the West Bank or to Gaza," Bruce said.

She said it was part of a streamlining of the State Department in Washington, ensuring that offices on "the issues that are important are all working together."