News:
Israel [1] approves 186 new settlement [2] units [3] in the occupied East Jerusalem [4]. (AFP/PNN/Ha’aretz/Jerusalem Post)
DM Ya’alon [5] comes under heavy criticism from American officials [6] for his anti-American remarks. [7] (Ha’aretz/Jerusalem Post/JTA)
UNRWA resumes food distribution [8] in the Yarmouk camp after a two-week halt. (AFP)
Israeli Chief Negotiator Livni says Pres. Abbas’ decisions [9] on peace talks is key to a prisoner release. [10](AFP/JTA)
A Palestinian official threatens to resume [11] UN initiatives if Israel calls off prisoner release. [12] (AP/Ynet)
A growing generational divide among Palestinians about peace with Israel is reflected in Abbas’ family. [13] (New York Times)
Former Fatah official Dahlan calls Abbas a “catastrophe” [14] for the Palestinians. (Times of Israel)
Israel returns four bodies [15] of Palestinians held for more than a decade. (Ha’aretz)
Israeli [16] occupation forces kill a Palestinian teeenager [17] in the West Bank. [18] (Xinhua/Ma’an/Jerusalem Post)
Extremist settlers uproot 50 olive trees [19] in the occupied West Bank. (Ma’an)
The PA announces plans to drill for oil [20] in the West Bank. (AP)
Hamas urges the international community to end the blockade of Gaza. [21] (Xinhua)
PM Netanyahu orders the IDF to prepare for a possible strike [22] on Iran during 2014. (Ha’aretz)
Israeli officials have been urging Washington to resume aid to Egypt. [23] (Ha’aretz)
Israeli airstrikes [24] reportedly kill one Syrian soldier [25] and wound seven. [26] (AP/New York Times/The National)
The US suspends operations of Syria’s embassy [27] in Washington and its US consulates. [28](Reuters/New York Times)
Lebanese troops open the road [29] to a Syrian border town. [30] (AP/Daily Star)
Al-Qaeda is reportedly building its network [31] in Lebanon. (Washington Post)
A government raid [32] on a militant bomb factory in Egypt leaves two soldiers [33] and five extremists dead. (AP/Reuters)
The US signs a $165 million water assistance agreement [34]with Jordan. (Jordan Times)
Commentary:
The Daily Star [35] says Pres. Obama should make the “tough decisions’ on the peace talks. (Daily Star)
Jodi Rudoren [36] says the Middle East peace process has its own coded language. (New York Times)
Salman Mashalha [37] dismisses all notions of a binational state. (Ha’aretz)
Ha’aretz [38] says Ya’alon is “endangering Israel’s security.” (Ha’aretz)
Yariv Oppenheimer [39] says Israel’s peace camp has abandoned its “customary defensiveness,” especially online. (Ha’aretz)
Aaron Magid [40] asks why Israel’s left opposes a peace referendum. (Ha’aretz)
Anat Saragusti [41] says AIPAC’s version of Israel is not her’s. (Ha’aretz)
Hussain Abdul Hussain [42] says the US should increase support for the Syrian opposition. (NOW)
Sharif Nashashibi [43] says Hezbollah’s role in Syria is jeopardizing its position in Lebanon. (The National)
Osama al Sharif [44] says the battle for Aleppo may decide the future of the conflict in Syria. (Jordan Times)
Rami Khouri [45] says both the Egyptian military and the Muslim Brotherhood have proven illegitimate. (Daily Star)
Hussein Ibish [46] says the saga of a rogue oil tanker is the latest evidence of Libyan state fragmentation. (NOW)
The National [47] urges more official US delegation visits to GCC states. (The National)