Message from
the president

Israel’s Higher Planning Council approved five plans totaling 2,414 housing units across the West Bank on June 3, two of which establish new settlements. In Gvaot, west of Bethlehem, 1,006 units received final approval, giving the settlement an urban character. The second, 234 units in the Hamivesher outpost, authorizes what is, in practice, a separate settlement within Hebron, roughly 800 meters north of Kiryat Arba and detached from it. The session brings 2026 approvals to

In November 2025 Israel proposed a new Israeli settlement – Shdema, on land taken from Beit Sahour next to Bethlehem in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. While we were singing carols about Bethlehem and the meaning of Christmas - Peace on Earth, etc., Israel was completing its encirclement of Christianity’s birthplace. The land had been earmarked by the Palestinian authority for a children’s hospital, recreational areas, cultural center, green space and a community hall.