Date

 

NEWS:

Pres. Abbas and PM Fayyad both come under intense pressure for Fayyad not to resign. (Reuters/Xinhua/Ha'aretz)

US officials say they do not believe Fayyad will be leaving office. (AFP)

Pres. Obama tells UNSG Ban he sees a "window of opportunity" to restart Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. (JTA)

Human Rights Watch condemns Hamas for killing accused collaborators with Israel. (AP/Reuters)

Israel offers to deport a long-standing Palestinian hunger striking prisoner, Samer Issawi, to a third country. (AP)

A 60-year-old Palestinian judge, Ahmad al-Zir, is beaten unconscious by settlers near Ramallah. (Ma'an)

The Israeli government is planning to cut state funding to an extremist settlement seminary over violence against Palestinians and Israeli troops. (AFP)

Palestinian man is wounded by occupation forces in a confrontation near Hebron. (Xinhua)

Israel is trying a Palestinian-American child accused of stone-throwing in the occupied West Bank. (Reuters)

Israel will open the Kerem Shalom crossing for four hours today to allow food and gas into the Gaza Strip. (Ma'an)

The Israeli military says it believes that Hamas is significantly increasing its efforts to capture more Israeli soldiers. (YNet)

The UK is helping Palestinian businesses reach more international markets. (PNN)

Palestinians are bracing for another dry summer under Israeli occupation water policies. (Ha'aretz)

Israel is finding the situation along the border between Syria and the occupied Golan Heightsincreasingly alarming, and is beefing up its defenses. (Reuters/The National)

40,000 Palestinian refugees from Syria are now in Lebanon, and some are on hunger strike. (The Daily Star)

Bedouin tribesmen in Sinai briefly abduct a Hungarian member of the multinational observer force, and then release him. (AP)

Jordanian MPs call for the release of the perpetrator of the massacre of Israeli schoolgirls. (Jerusalem Post)

Tensions reportedly reemerge between the Israeli and American offices of the American Jewish Committee. (The Forward)


COMMENTARY:

Ben Caspit purports to tell the inside story of the recent conversations between Obama and PM Netanyahu. (Al Monitor)

Hazem Balousha says Qatar's sponsorship of Hamas is greatly hindering Palestinian reconciliation. (Al Monitor)

Nabeel Shaath says Palestinians are deeply upset by Canadian FM Baird's visit to occupied East Jerusalem. (Globe and Mail)

Ha'aretz says if the new Israeli government persists with its policies it will bear a heavy responsibility for any failure of new US peace initiatives. (Ha'aretz)

The Guardian says the biggest obstacles to peace are the power asymmetry, and the nature of the status quo, between Israel and the Palestinians. (The Guardian)

Yossi Sarid says those who condemn stone-throwing by Palestinian protesters are probably against any form of resistance to occupation. (Ha'aretz)

Lior Akerman questions the nature of the Israeli-Turkish rapprochement. (Jerusalem Post)

Hillel Halkin says Israel should not have apologized to Turkey. (The Forward)

Ibrahim Kalin asks what's next after Israel's apology in further mending relations with Turkey. (The Daily Star)

Randa Takieddine says Lebanon should not hesitate to follow Israel's lead in exploiting offshore natural gas deposits. (Al Hayat)

The Economist says racism in football in Israel is a huge problem, but some are trying to challenge it. (The Economist)


American Task Force on Palestine - 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 725, Washington DC 20006 - Telephone: 202-262-0017