For today, links to nine reports: from Reuters, National Public Radio, Middle East Eye, and the Associated Press, and to commentary from CraigMurray.org.uk, via Consortium News, and Middle East Eye; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (UKRAINE entry for this date is HERE.) — MCM

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NEWER  Israel’s defence minister says there ‘is a chance’ for hostage deal with Hamas. From Reuters. JERUSALEM — Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said today that Israel had pressured Hamas to the extent that a hostage deal with the Iranian-backed group might be possible. Speaking . . . READ MORE . . .

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Israeli forces advance in Khan Younis area of southern Gaza, 20 killed across enclave, by Nidal Al-Mughrabi | Reuters  Israeli tanks pushed into northern parts of the Khan Younis area in the south of the Gaza Strip today and Palestinian medics said Israeli air strikes had killed at least 20 people across the enclave. Residents said . . . READ MORE . . . Click HERE for report from Middle East Eye.

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FROM DEC. 2  Made in Gaza: ‘From Ground Zero’ gives voice to filmmakers trapped in war zone, by Sarah Agha | Middle East Eye  BRISTOL, UK  It is hard to imagine a more challenging environment for shooting a film than the devastated and besieged Gaza Strip in 2024. But that is the setting for a groundbreaking new anthology by Palestinian filmmakers. READ MORE . . .

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Israel threatens a wider war on Lebanon if a truce with Hezbollah fails. Leila Fadel of NPR talks with Rima Korjieh, Lutheran World Relief project officer in Lebanon, about families returning to their homes after the ceasefire with Israel was announced. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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Jewish settlers attack Palestinian towns and clash with Israeli troops. From AP. Jewish settlers mounted a string of attacks on Palestinian towns in the occupied West Bank overnight, burning homes and clashing with Israeli troops. READ MORE . . . Click HERE and HERE for report from Reuters and Middle East Monitor.

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An Israeli strike kills a person in Lebanon, further shaking the tenuous ceasefire, by Sally Abou Aljoud and Bassam Hatoum | AP  NABATIYEH, Lebanon — Israeli forces carried out several new drone and artillery strikesin Lebanon on Tuesday, including a deadly strike that the Health Ministry and state media said killed one person, further shaking a tenuous ceasefire meant to end more than a year of fighting with Hezbollah. READ MORE . . .

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FROM NOV. 30  Lebanon’s teetering ceasefire, by Craig Murray | CraigMurray.org.uk / Consortium News  BEIRUT — Only Israel has opened fire since the start of the “ceasefire”, and Israel has done so repeatedly. Nobody has fired back. Since the ceasefire was agreed . . . READ MORE . . .

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Biden and Starmer are destroying international law to protect Israel’s genocide, by Jonathan Cook | Middle East Eye  For more than a year, those calling for an end to Israel’s slaughter of civilians in Gaza have been relentlessly vilified: as apologists for Hamas, as antisemites, even as supporters of a genocide against Israel and the wider Jewish people. READ MORE . . .

For today, links to seven reports: from the Associated Press, the Anadolu Agency, Tass, Kyiv Post, the Kyiv Independent, and Reuters; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (GAZA entry for this date is HERE.) — MCM

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NATO’s chief avoids talk of Ukraine’s membership. He says the priority is helping Kyiv defend itself, by Lorne Cook and Illia Novikov | AP  BRUSSELS — NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Tuesday sidestepped questions about Ukraine’s possible membership in the military alliance, saying that the priority now must be to strengthen the country’s hand in any future peace talks with Russia by sending it more weapons. READ MORE . . . Click HERE and HERE reports from Anadolu Agency and Tass.

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AFU crush Russian assaults in key military hub near Pokrovsk, obliterate armored column and infantry, by Julia Struck | Kyiv Post  Ukrainian troops have successfully repelled at least two Russian assaults in the Kurakhove sector of the Donetsk region in recent days, according to the Khortytsia operational-strategic group. On Tuesday morning . . . READ MORE . . .

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Explosions shake Russia’s military bases: Dyagilevo airbase and Novorossiysk port targeted. From Kyiv Post.  Russian media outlets have reported that early today a series of explosions occurred near the Dyagilevo military airfield in the Russian city of Ryazan. Videos of . . . READ MORE . . .

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German FM doesn’t rule out deploying troops to Ukraine in case of ceasefire. From the Kyiv Independent. Germany does not rule out deploying troops to Ukraine to ensure a ceasefire, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said during a NATO ministerial meeting in Brussels on Tuesday. READ MORE . . .

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Trump’s plan for Ukraine comes into focus: Territorial concessions but NATO off the table, by Gram Slattery andJonathan Landay | Reuters   WASHINGTON — Advisers to Donald Trump publicly and privately are floating proposals to end the Ukraine war that would cede large parts of the country to Russia for the foreseeable future, according to a Reuters analysis of their statements and . . . READ MORE . . .

For today, links to five reports: from Reuters, the Associated Press, and Middle East Monitor, and to commentary from Middle East Eye; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (UKRAINE entry for this date and a MEDIA entry are HERE and HERE.) — MCM

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Israel kills 23 people in north Gaza, orders evacuations in south, by Nidal Al-Mughrabi | Reuters  CAIRO — Israeli military strikes killed at least 23 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip today, most of them in the town of Beit Lahiya on the northern edge, medics said, as the army issued new evacuation orders in the south of the small enclave. READ MORE . . .

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Palestinians say Hamas and Fatah are close to an agreement on a committee to administer postwar Gaza, by Samy Magdy and Josef Federman | AP  CAIRO — Palestinian officials say the rival factions Fatah and Hamas are closing in on an agreement to appoint a committee of politically independent technocrats to administer the Gaza Strip after the war. It would effectively end Hamas’ rule and could . . . READ MORE . . . Click HERE for report from Middle East Monitor.

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Israeli strikes kill 11 in Lebanon after fire exchanges with Hezbollah that test ceasefire’s limits, by Natalie Meltzer and Sally Abou Aljoud | AP  JERUSALEM — Israel unleashed its largest wave of airstrikes across Lebanon since agreeing to a ceasefire with Hezbollah last week, killing at least 11 people on Monday after the Lebanese militant group fired . . . READ MORE . . .

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Israel threatens to expand war if Hezbollah truce collapses, by Laila Bassam, Maya Gebeily and Steven Scheer | Reuters  BEIRUT / JERUSALEM — Israel threatened today to return to war in Lebanon if its truce with Hezbollah collapses, and said this time its attacks would go deeper and target the Lebanese state itself, after the deadliest day since the ceasefire was agreed last week. READ MORE . . .

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How Israel profits from oppression, by Hamza Yusuf | Middle East Eye  The Palestine Laboratory, a podcast by investigative journalist Antony Loewenstein, based on his book of the same name, explores how Israel’s military and technological advancements are used to sustain the oppression of Palestinians, while simultaneously . . . READ MORE . . .

For today, links to six reports: from Tass, Reuters, the Associated Press, the Kyiv Independent, and National Public Radio, and to commentary from Kyiv Post; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (GAZA entry for this date and a MEDIA entry are HERE and HERE.) — MCM

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Strategic defeat would mean destruction for Russia, Putin says. From Tass. MOSCOW — There have always been people in Russia who are ready to rise up to defend the country, President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with the service members undergoing treatment at the Center of Innovative Technologies in Orthopaedics. “Someone from the outside says . . . READ MORE . . .

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NATO expected to sidestep Ukraine’s call for quick invite, by Sabine Siebold and Humeyra Pamuk | Reuters  BRUSSELS — NATO was highly unlikely to heed Ukraine’s call for a membership invitation at a meeting today, according to diplomats, dashing Kyiv’s hopes of a political boost as it struggles on the battlefield and awaits Donald Trump’s return to the White House. READ MORE . . .

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FROM DEC. 2  U.S. to bolster Ukraine with $725 mln weapons package, by Patricia Zengerle | Reuters  WASHINGTON – The United States will send Ukraine US$725 million of missiles, ammunition, anti-personnel mines and other weapons, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday as . . . READ MORE . . .

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Ukraine accelerating missile production, Zelensky says, by Kateryna Denisova | The Kyiv Independent  Ukraine is accelerating the country’s missile production, President Volodymyr Zelensky said today. READ MORE . . .

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FROM DEC. 2  German leader Scholz vows more Ukraine aid and defends his phone call with Putin, by Hanna Arhirova and Barry Hatton | AP  KYIV — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Ukraine for the first time in more than two years Monday and vowed to keep supporting Kyiv in the war, just weeks after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy rebuked him for having a phone call with . . . READ MORE . . .

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There’s a lot of guessing about what President-elect Trump has planned for Ukraine. Steve Inskeep of NPR speaks with Eliot Cohen of the Center for Strategic and International Studies about Ukraine’s strategies preceding President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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How Trump’s Ukraine envoy could reshape U.S.-Ukraine relations, by Katie Livingstone | Kyiv Post  Lt. Gen. (Ret.) Keith Kellogg has been nominated by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump as his official White House envoy to facilitate the end to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – leading to a collective sigh of relief from some experts in Kyiv. In Kellogg . . . READ MORE . . .

Link to a report from Consortium News; other articles are accessible by clicking on its name below. (GAZA and UKRAINE entries for this date are HERE and HERE.) — MCM

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X suspends CN Live! and producer; Facebook blocks CN pieces. From Consortium News. X has suspended the account of the executive producer of Consortium News‘ webcast CN Live! without indicating which X rules were allegedly violated. And on Nov. 26, Facebook blocked the posting of a CN article, “A History of Humiliation,” because it allegedly . . . READ MORE . . .

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MAY BE CONTINUED

For now, links to four reports: from Middle East Monitor, Reuters, the Associated Press, and the Anadolu Agency, and to a clip of spoken commentary from Rumble via ScheerPost; other published material is accessible by clicking on their names below or otherwise highlighted. (UKRAINE and COVID ETC. entries for this date, so far, are HERE and HERE.)

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FROM DEC. 1  Israel committing war crimes in northern Gaza, says former defence minister. From Middle East Monitor. Former Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon accused the army on Sunday of committing war crimes in the northern Gaza Strip and attempting to hide these crimes from the public, Anadolu Agency reports. “I speak on behalf . . . READ MORE . . .

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Israeli army bombards homes in north Gaza, airstrike kills 15, medics say, by Nidal Al-Mughrabi | Reuters  CAIRO — Israeli forces bombarded houses in overnight attacks in the northern Gaza Strip, killing at least 15 people in one of the buildings in the town of Beit Lahiya, Palestinian medics said today. READ MORE . . .

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Israel says soldier thought to have been taken hostage is now presumed dead. From AP. The Israeli military said today an Israeli American soldier who was believed to have been captured alive by Hamas in its Oct. 7, 2023, attack was killed that day and his body taken into the Gaza Strip. Hamas still holds around 100 hostages inside Gaza, at least a third of whom . . . READ MORE . . .

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Israeli army opens fire toward homes in Naqoura town despite cease-fire. From Anadolu Agency. ISTANBUL — The Israeli army on Monday morning opened fire toward the town of Naqoura in southern Lebanon, the latest violation of the cease-fire that entered into force last week. The official Lebanese news agency NNA said . . . READ MORE . . .

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Why you shouldn’t shun family members over political disputes. Glenn Greenwald of System Update talks about the virtues of communicating cordially with family members and others who don’t share all of one’s political outlook. Click HERE to watch and listen.

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MAY BE CONTINUED

For now, links to six reports: from Reuters, the Kyiv Independent, the Anadolu Agency, the Associated Press, Kyiv Post, and Tass, and to commentary from Moon of Alabama via Popular Resistance; other articles are accessible by clicking on their names below. (GAZA and COVID ETC. entries for this date, so far, are HERE and HERE.) — MCM

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Ukraine must find diplomatic solutions to retake occupied territory, Zelenskiy tells Kyodo news. From Reuters. KYIV — Ukraine must find diplomatic solutions to retake some of its occupied territory, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in an interview with Kyodo News published today. He said such steps could be considered “only when . . . READ MORE . . . Click HERE and HERE for reports from the Kyiv Independent and Anadolu Agency.

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German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is in Ukraine for his first visit in 2 1/2 years. From AP. KYIV — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visited Ukraine for the first time in more than 2 1/2 years today, just weeks after he was criticized by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for having a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin. READ MORE . . . Click HERE for report from Kyiv Post.

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Situation in Kursk Region. From Tass. MOSCOW — Over the day, Kiev lost more than 250 people in the Kursk direction, the Russian Defense Ministry said, adding that one Ukrainian serviceman surrendered. READ MORE . . .

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FROM NOV. 29  To the last Ukrainian, by Moon of Alabama | moonofalabama.org / Popular Resistance  Politicians in Ukraine, like elsewhere, are . . . READ MORE . . .

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MAY BE CONTINUED

A link to an article from Substack; others are accessible by clicking on its name below. (GAZA and UKRAINE entries for this date, so far, are HERE and HERE.) — MCM

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FROM APRIL 10, 2023  From the belly of the beast, by Madhava Setty | An Insult to Intuition / Substack  Last week I attended the 23rd World Vaccine Congress in Washington, D.C. — which bills itself as “The Most Important Vaccine Event of the Year”: “Our event format allows for . . . READ MORE . . .

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MAY BE CONTINUED

For today, links to reports from the Associated Press, Middle East Monitor, and National Public Radio and to commentary from Middle East Eye and Consortium News; other articles are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (UKRAINE entry for this date is HERE.) — MCM

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UN halts aid shipments through Gaza’s main crossing after looting. It blames the crisis on Israel, by Wafaa Shurafa, Samy Magdy and Tia Goldenberg | AP  DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees said today it is halting aid deliveries through the main cargo crossing into the war-ravaged Gaza Strip because of the threat of armed gangs who have looted recent convoys. It blamed the breakdown of law and order in large part . . . READ MORE . . .

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World Central Kitchen pauses Gaza operations after airstrike hits its staff. From Middle East Monitor. World Central Kitchen (WCK) suspended Saturday its operations in Gaza following an Israeli airstrike that struck a vehicle carrying its staff members, Anadolu reports. READ MORE . . .

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FROM NOV. 30  Examining the significance of the Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire agreement. Adrian Ma of NPR talks with Paul Salem of the Middle East Institute about the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah and its implications, if any, to the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.

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By granting immunity to Netanyahu, France is fuelling the genocide, by Thierry Brésillon | Middle East Eye  In a statement published on Nov.. 27, the French foreign affairs ministry claimed that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “and the other ministers concerned,” targeted by an international arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court, benefit . . . READ MORE . . .

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FROM NOV. 30  Trump II and the Middle East, by As`ad AbuKhalil | Special to Consortium News  It is too early to draw an outline of the Middle East policy of the incoming Trump administration, but drawing on a variety of factors helps to understand its general direction. READ MORE . . .