The State Secretariat of Foreign Affairs (Arabic: أمانة الدولة للشؤون الخارجية amānat ad-dawlah lish-shu’ūn al-khārjīyah) is one of the most important secretariats (ministries) of the Cabinet of Palestine. It is responsible for representing Palestine abroad via the nation's network of foreign missions (embassies), which are staffed and maintained by the secretariat. It was established on 5 July 1979 in an executive decree drafted by President Rifaf Khan and signed by Prime Minister Kamal Nasser and the Palestine Arab Congress, naming the secretariat the official successor to the Ministry of the Exterior of the First Palestinian Republic. The secretariat is led by the Secretary of Foreign Affairs, who is appointed by the Prime Minister of Palestine.
The secretariat is headquartered in the government district of the American Colony, East Jerusalem. Anwar al-Aita is the current Secretary of Foreign Affairs, and Rami Hamdallah is the current Permanent Representative of Palestine to the United Nations, the second highest ranking office in the secretariat.
Foreign missions (Foreign Relations Directorate)
Embassies are staffed by an ambassador, who is appointed by the Secretary of Foreign Affairs. Many ambassadors oversee other consulates in different cities of the same country, which are subordinate to the embassy. In addition to regular diplomatic staff, all embassies and most consulates host a bureaucrat and sometimes one or two liaison officers from the State Secretariat of Internal Affairs, ostensibly to assist with visa and immigration requests.
Countries hosting at least one Palestinian embassy overseen by the Secretary of Foreign Affairs include:
- Afghanistan
- Algeria
- Angola
- Argentina
- Australia (and 2 consulates)
- Austria
- Barbados
- Bosnia & Herzegovina
- Brazil (and 2 consulates)
- Cambodia
- Canada (and 3 consulates)
- People's Republic of China
- Colombia
- Croatia
- Cuba
- Republic of Cyprus
- Denmark
- Egypt
- Estonia
- Ethiopia
- Finland
- Germany
- Hungary
- Iceland
- India (and 2 consulates)
- Indonesia (and 1 consulate)
- Iran (and 1 consulate)
- Iraq (and 1 consulate)
- Republic of Ireland
- Jamaica
- Japan (and 1 consulate)
- Jordan
- Kazakhstan
- Kosovo
- Latvia
- Lebanon
- Liberia
- Libya
- Lithuania
- Malaysia
- Malta
- Mexico
- Morocco
- Myanmar
- Netherlands
- Nigeria
- North Korea
- Norway
- Oman
- Pakistan (and 1 consulate)
- Philippines
- Portugal
- Qatar
- Russia (and 2 consulates)
- Saudi Arabia (and 1 consulate)
- Serbia
- Somalia
- South Africa (and 2 consulates)
- Spain (and 1 consulate)
- Sri Lanka
- Sudan
- Sweden
- Switzerland (and 1 consulate)
- Syria (and 1 consulate)
- Tunisia
- Turkey (and 1 consulate)
- Turkmenistan
- United Arab Emirates (and 1 consulate)
- United Kingdom
- United States
- Uzbekistan
- Vietnam (and 1 consulate)
- Yemen (and 1 consulate)
Other services (Foreign Services Directorate)
- National Passport Office: Issues passports and related travel documents to citizens and permanent residents, handles reports of lost or stolen documents.
- National Extraordinary Relief Agency: Provides emergency assistance to Palestinian nationals in crisis abroad.
- Foreign Aid and Development Office: Responsible for realising and overseeing the Palestinian government's commitments to foreign relief and development programs.
- Foreign Revenue Office: Responsible for investigating illegal concealment of taxable income by Palestinian nationals abroad, including via audits with or without foreign government cooperation.
- Foreign Legal Office: Provides legal representation and appropriate assistance to Palestinian nationals in legal trouble abroad.
- Global Security Office: Responsible for liaising between national security agencies and foreign governments, in order to jointly improve national security policy and international cooperation.
- International Trade Office: Responsible for overseeing the national foreign trade sector, including enforcing tariff and nationalisation laws.
- National Foreign Strategy Office: Responsible for working with Palestinian foreign missions to develop a more coherent national foreign policy.