News:
Israel agrees to release 26 [1] more long-serving Palestinian prisoners [2] as part of the US-brokered talks-resumption deal. (AP/Xinhua)
Palestinians are reportedly taking a tough stance on land swaps [3] in the talks with Israel. (Times of Israel)
Israeli experts say security cooperation [4] with the PA has never been stronger. (The Media Line)
Jordan reiterates its support for Palestinians [5] in negotiations with Israel. (Xinhua)
Israel says militants in Gaza fired two rockets [6] into southern Israel. (AP)
Israel retaliates [7] with airstrikes [8] against northern Gaza. (Ma'an/Xinhua)
Israeli forces detain 15 [9] Hamas affiliates in Nablus. (Ma'an)
Palestinians say a man suspected of killing an Israeli soldier has been severely tortured in Israeli detention [10]. (Ma'an)
Israel's military chief says he thinks cyber attacks are the most dangerous [11] threat to the country, as an Israeli tunnel is hacked and shut down. (AP)
Former UK FM Jack Straw says Jewish influence [12] in the US is the most powerful obstacle to peace [13]. (Times of Israel/Jerusalem Post)
Israel will resume cooperation [14] with the United Nations Human Rights Council. (Xinhua)
Egypt's smuggling tunnel closures "costs Gaza $230 million monthly [15]." (AFP)
Egypt closes the Gaza crossing [16] indefinitely. (Jerusalem Post)
Lack of raw materials [17] and other shortages [18] are bringing the Gaza economy to a standstill. (Xinhua/Reuters)
The PA says it plans to plant 750,000 olive trees [19] to compensate for settler attacks. (Ma'an)
This year's olive harvest in Gaza [20] near the border is continuing despite Israeli threats. (Al Monitor)
Another wave of car bombings [21] killed at least 41 [22] in Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad, bringing theweekend total to 66 dead [23]. (New York Times/AP/Washington Post)
Three Egyptian police [24] officers are shot north of Cairo [25]. (AP/Reuters)
Fears of violent anti-government extremism [26] in Egypt are growing. (Reuters)
Egypt's new government expresses appreciation for UAE support [27]. (Xinhua)
Israel appoints [28] a new ambassador to Egypt. (Times of Israel)
Sexual assault victims [29] in Egypt face a long road to justice. (BBC)
The number of estimated Syrian refugees in Lebanon reaches 800,000 [30]. (Xinhua)
Palestinian refugees [31] in Lebanon demand better healthcare. (The Daily Star)
Palestinian iconography [32] is being revived in Bethlehem. (PNN)
Commentary:
Sec. Kerry [33] says Pres. Assad is using starvation as a weapon of war in Syria. (Foreign Policy)
Yossi Verter [34] says by opposing Palestinian prisoner release, Naftali Bennett is making a clear bid for the leadership of the Israeli right. (Ha'aretz)
Eitan Haber [35] says Bennett's party's rhetorical attacks against Israel's negotiator Livni could lead to her assassination. (YNet)
Emily Hauser [36] asks why Israelis are so tone deaf about incitement against Palestinians. (Daily Beast/Open Zion)
Yossi Klein Halevi [37] describes how an Israeli paratrooper became a violent Jewish extremist. (The Forward)
The CSM interviews Uri Avnery [38], who wonders if Israel will still exist in 90 years. (Christian Science Monitor)
Ha'aretz [39] says it's important that Israel resumes participation in the UN Human Rights Council. (Ha'aretz)
Nigel Cameron [40] says the US should stop boycotting and defunding UNESCO to spite the Palestinians. (The Guardian)
Aryeh Eldad [41] says boycott movements won't do anything to stop settlements. (Ha'aretz)
Kobi Niv [42] says a society with racism at its core, Israel, cannot be sincerely or successfully antiracist. (Ha'aretz)
Nabeel Kassis [43] says Palestinians should not recognize Israel as a "Jewish state." (Al Monitor)
The NYT interviews NSA Rice [44] on the Obama Administration's Middle East policies. (New York Times)
Jackson Diehl [45] says Pres. Obama's Middle East policies are based on fantasy and wishful thinking. (Washington Post)
Marwan Bishara [46] says many Arabs fear a US-Iranian rapprochement. (New York Times)
Raghida Dergham [47] says the US has adopted an isolationist foreign policy of appeasement and avoidance. (Al Hayat)
Abdullah Al Shayji [48] says America's Gulf allies are losing trust in the US. (Gulf News)
Joshua Haber [49] says the rift between Cairo and Washington is deepening. (Al Monitor)
Stephen Walt [50] says the US shouldn't worry if Saudi Arabia and Israel are upset with its policies. (Foreign Policy)
The LA Times [51] says the Saudi women driving ban protest is about more than just cars. (Los Angeles Times)
The Forward "video-profiles" Palestinian-American comedienne Maysoon Zayid [52]. (The Forward)
Hussein Ibish [53] says Syria and Hizbollah have hollowed out the Lebanese state, which is facing its biggest crisis since the civil war. (The National)
Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed [54] says it's ridiculous to see the Syrian conflict as a way of getting Hezbollah and Al Qaeda to destroy each other. (Asharq Al- Awsat)