News:
A Palestinian official says a PLO delegation is due to visit Gaza [1], but a date has yet to be confirmed. (Ma’an)
The US and the EU reportedly plan to test [2] the new Israeli government vis a vis the Palestinians after the elections. (Jerusalem Post)
Palestinian security forces raid the offices [3] of two members of parliament. (Ma’an)
The Italian parliament postpones the vote [4]on a non-binding bill calling for the recognition of the state of Palestine. (PNN)
A Palestinian civilian and a Hamas fighter [5] die in separate incidents in underground tunnels beneath Gaza and Egypt. (Ma’an)
Israeli occupation forces arrest 14 Palestinians in overnight raids [6] across the West Bank. (Ma’an)
An American trial threatens [7] to undermine Palestinian efforts [8] to rally international support [9] at the ICC. (AP/Times of Israel/Jerusalem Post)
A poll indicates 70 percent of Palestinian citizens of Israel [10] care more about bettering their socioeconomic standing than about solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. (Ha’aretz)
Israeli and American national security advisers [11] meet amid tensions between the two countries. (JTA)
23 Democrats urge [12] Speaker Boehner to delay PM Netanyahu’s speech [13] to Congress. (JTA/AP)
A secret government bank account [14] holds funds Israel owes Iran for oil it received before the 1979 revolution. (Ha’aretz)
An American official says [15] an Iraqi and Kurdish military force [16] is being prepared to recapture the city of Mosul from ISIS [17], in the April-May time frame. (Reuters/AP/New York Times)
The US and Turkey sign an agreement [18] to train and equip moderate Syrian opposition fighters. (Reuters)
AP looks at the some signs of tension emerging [19] among ISIS militants. (AP)
ISIS’ flamboyant violence consumes [20] the world’s attention while more familiar threats kill far more people. (New York Times)
Three car bombs [21] in Eastern Libya [22] kill 40 [23] and wound 70 [24] people. (Reuters/AP/Washington Post/AFP)
Pro-ISIS militants seize a university [25] in the central Libyan city of Sirte. (Reuters)
Britain says Libya needs a unified government before the UNSC can lift the arms embargo [26]. (Reuters)
The UN says Yemen’s feuding parties have agreed on a "people's transitional council" [27] to help govern the country and guide it out of a political crisis. (Reuters)
King Salman’s post-coronation giveaways [28] will cost an estimated $32 billion. (New York Times)
The US and the UAE are launching [29] a new media hub to tackle extremism. (The National)
Commentary:
Hanana Elsana [30], a Bedouin Arab woman, explains why she will vote in Israel’s upcoming election. (Ha’aretz)
Jamal Abdo [31] says the merger of all the Arab parties is welcome, but he already knows what little impact they will have in the next Knesset. (Ha’aretz)
Maya Kornberg and Roee Kibrik [32] say Israel must broaden the definition of security to reframe Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and break the deadlock. (Ynet)
David Ignatius [33] looks at the public rift between Pres. Obama and Netanyahu over the Iranian nuclear issue. (Washington Post)
Ben Caspit [34]says Israel fears that the US aspires to replace its traditional Middle East allies with Iran. (Al-Monitor)
Ali Khedery [35] looks at how Iranian-backed Shiite militias are running amok in Iraq. (Foreign Policy)
Raed Omari [36] says Arab states have been implementing a war on terror with America’s hesitance and decisiveness in the background. (Al Arabiya)
Tariq Alhomayed [37] says Pres. Sisi should have gone to the Arab League before hitting ISIS in Libya. (Asharq al-Awsat)
The New York Times [38] says Egypt’s airstrikes against ISIS positions in Libya could endanger the UN’s fragile peace effort. (New York Times)
Amir Taheri [39] says Syria policy needs to recognize that Pres. Assad and ISIS are parts of the same problem. (Asharq al-Awsat)
Aaron David Miller [40] says any meaningful summit on countering or preventing violent extremism has to happen in the Muslim world and not in Washington. (Foreign Policy)
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