Links to two reports: from Middle East Eye and National Public Radio; others are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below. (Scroll down for WEST BANK 12-6-25 — and up or down for GAZA, UKRAINE, SYRIA and MEDIA.) — MCM

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Israel earmarks more than $830mn to expand illegal West Bank settlements. From Middle East Eye. Far-right Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has set aside the amount to fund the creation of 17 new settlements in the occupied West Bank over the next five years, according to the Israeli newspaper Yediot Aharonot. READ MORE . . .

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Christmas tree lighting held in Bethlehem for the first time since Gaza war began. Reported by Hadeel Al-Shalchi | NPR  People gathered in Bethlehem in the Israeli occupied West Bank on Saturday to watch the lighting of the Christmas tree — for the first time since the war in Gaza began two years ago. Click HERE later to listen and, still later, read.

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