Huckabee, Palestinian Authority VP Al-Sheikh hold rare meeting in Ramallah

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee met with Palestinian Authority Vice President Hussein al-Sheikh in Ramallah on Wednesday, amid Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank and ongoing settler violence, the Times of Israel reported.

The meeting is the second between Huckabee, a self-described Christian Zionist and ardent supporter of Israel, and the PA deputy.

Huckabee and al-Sheikh discussed Israel's withholding of Palestinian tax revenue, a Palestinian official told the Israeli outlet. The US ambassador had previously said he was working on the release of the funds, which have restricted the PA's ability to operate and pay salaries. Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has refused to release the monthly payments, which now total several billion dollars.

The report added that al-Sheikh also requested that Huckabee assist in convincing Israel to give entry permits for Palestinian Christians to visit Jerusalem on Christmas, as well as to allow free movement to visit Bethlehem.

Israel has increased the number of checkpoints in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, affecting access for both Muslims and Christians to their holy sites in the area.

In a related development, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich approved a plan to build a new illegal settlement with 3,600 housing units in occupied East Jerusalem, Israel's Channel 7 reported on Thursday.

The new settlement, named "Mishmar Yehuda", will take up 3,380 dunams of Palestinian land in the east of the city,

Speaking on X, Smotrich said the settlement will provide a "strategic base to protect Jerusalem from the east”, and would further entrench Israeli control over the area, preventing the creation of a Palestinian state.

The move follows the Israeli cabinet's approval of the establishment of 19 illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank on 12 December.