NEWS:

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators meet twice in secret on Tuesday. (Xinhua/YNet/Times of Israel)

Pres. Abbas calls for an effective US role in the Israeli-Palestinian talks. (Xinhua)

Abbas says Israel is "placing obstacles" in the way of continuing with negotiations. (PNN)

Palestinians say they are still considering more moves at the UN despite peace talks. (AP)

Three more Palestinian refugees are killed in fighting in Syria. (Ma'an)

Hamas denounces a new movement in Gaza calling for its ouster. (Ma'an)

Hamas calls on Egypt to open the border crossing with Gaza, and rejects the notion of an Israeli crossing as an alternative. (Reuters/Xinhua)

A Palestinian man is killed in a raid by Israeli occupation forces in Jenin. (New York Times)

Israeli forces shoot and injure two Palestinians in northern Gaza. (Ma'an)

Hamas is persisting with executions despite appeals from human rights groups. (New York Times)

Israeli police say suspected Jewish extremist vandals have defaced another Christian monastery. (AP/YNet)

Israel accuses an Arab citizen of joining extremist rebels in Syria. (AP)

Israel destroys two Palestinian homes in the Negev desert. (Ma'an)

The Israeli government issues a travel advisory for certain countries ahead of the Jewish holidays. (Xinhua)

The Bank of Palestine announces a net profit of $18.7 Million for the first half of 2013. (PNN)

A settler leader demands payment for trying to save an unauthorized, wildcat outpost. (Ha'aretz)

Israel's Supreme Court is set to rule on the legality of Israeli settlement boycotts. (Jerusalem Post)

Israelis are becoming increasingly concerned about unrest in Sinai. (The Guardian)

American supporters of Israel are deeply divided over the question of aid to Egypt. (The Forward)

Human rights activists are not challenging Hamas' ban on Internet porn for fear of social judgment. (Al Monitor)


COMMENTARY:

ATFP President Ziad Asali says Egypt must preserve its strategic relationship with the United States. (CBC TV)

Aaron David Miller and Edward Joseph suggest Arab states construct a union of democracies. (Washington Post)

Benedetta Berti says Israelis should realize a prolonged civil war in Syria is bad news for them. (Christian Science Monitor)

Dmitry Shumsky says Palestinian citizens of Israel have most to gain from an Israeli-Palestinian peace treaty. (Ha'aretz)

Zvi Bar'el says, with the loss of its ally in Egypt, Turkey is losing influence in the Middle East as a whole. (Ha'aretz)

Linda Gradstein says PM Erdogan's accusations that Israel was behind the ouster of former Egyptian Pres. Morsi have reignited tensions with Israel. (The Media Line)

Leonard Fein says it makes no sense for Israel to cut off scientific cooperation with the EU out of anger. (The Forward)

Mazal Mualem looks at an unexpected new alliance between ultra-Orthodox and left-wing forces in Israel. (Al Monitor)

Maysoon Zayid says few Palestinians really care about prisoner release. (Daily Beast/Open Zion)

J. J. Goldberg says the fight over the nomination of Sec. Hagel transformed the Jewish American political landscape. (Daily Beast/Open Zion)

Robert Wexler says the US should not engage in "arm-twisting" on Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. (Politico)