News:
Members of the Join List [1] decline an invitation by the Arab League [2] for a meeting at the headquarters in Cairo. (Ha’aretz/Times of Israel)
UN Humanitarian Coordinator Rawley [3] says the UN is not facilitating any truce negotiations between Israel and Hamas. (Ha’aretz)
Hamas says [4] ministers of the unity government do not have the authority [5] to sign employees agreement. (Ma’an/AP)
Hamas imposes a new import tax [6] on commodities entering Gaza, angering local merchants. (Times of Israel)
Bethlehem's local municipality is seeking protection for 12 known artworks [7] by British graffiti artist Banksy across the city. (Ma’an)
Extremist Jewish settlers uproot 450 olive trees [8] in Salfit. (PNN)
Mohammed Abu Khdeir [9], the Palestinian teenager [10] who was kidnapped and burned alive by Jews in a revenge killing, is recognized as a terror victim [11]. (JTA/Ha’aretz/Times of Israel)
Pres. Rivlin and PM Netanyahu [12] decline requests [13] for meetings with former Pres. Carter [14]. (New York Times/Ha’aretz/JTA)
Iran’s Deputy FM says he is optimistic that a ceasefire in Yemen [15] would be announced later today. (Reuters)
The World Health Organization says health services in Yemen are on the brink of collapse [16]. (Reuters)
A Houthi leader [17] says the movement of more US warships [18] into waters off Yemen escalates Washington's role [19] and aims at tightening a "siege" on the country. (Reuters/AP/New York Times)
The New York Times looks at what civilians in Sanaa are documenting [20] on Twitter. (New York Times)
ISIS is exploiting Libya's lawlessness [21] but tribal and political loyalties mean it is unlikely to grow as rapidly there as in Iraq or Syria. (Reuters)
ISIS leader al-Baghdadi [22] has been seriously wounded [23] in an air strike in western Iraq [24]. (The Guardian/Ha’aretz/Jerusalem Post)
Iraqi security forces recapture [25] areas lost earlier to ISIS in and around the battleground city of Ramadi. (AP)
An Egyptian court [26] sentences former Pres. Morsi [27] to 20 years in jail [28]. (Reuters/Washington Post/The National)
Washington Post reporter [29], Jason Rezaian, who is detained in Iran for nearly nine months [30] facescharges of espionage [31] and three other crimes [32]. (AP/New York Times/Times of Israel/The National)
Commentary:
Ahmad Melhem [33] says the Jordan Valley has been taken over by Jewish settlers who have barred Palestinians from using the land. (Al-Monitor)
Oudeh Basharat [34] says opposition leader Herzog must form an alliance with Kahlon. (Ha’aretz)
Efraim Halevy [35] says Israel's most important strategic interest still lies with the US. (Ynet)
Pervez Hoodbhoy [36] says Saudi Arabia has reason to fear that Pakistan might no longer simply follow its diktats. (New York Times)
Faisal Al Yafai [37] says Ali Abdullah Saleh is wrong to claim no-one has asked him to leave his country – millions of Yemenis did so in 2011. (The National)
Laura Kasinof [38] asks why the world missed Yemen’s downward spiral. (Foreign Policy)
Jamal Khashoggi [39] says Saudi Arabia rejects the tyranny of the Houthis because the latter is a front for Iranian expansion. (Al Arabiya)
The New York Times [40] says Cairo gets $1.3 billion a year in US military aid despite its “abysmal human rights record.” (New York Times)
Diana Moukalled [41] says the international community must reevaluate its outlook toward the tragedy in Syria, for which Assad’s regime must bear the largest weight of responsibility. (Al Arabiya)
Raed Omari [42] says Hezbollah is on the verge of collapse. (Al Arabiya)
Salman Aldossary [43] says Hezbollah leader Nasrallah’s extremist views damage the security of Lebanon. (Asharq al-Awsat)
Ilan Goldenberg and Ely Ratner [44] say China is walking a fine line between Saudi Arabia and Iran. (Foreign Policy)
Tony Karon [45] says by attaining breakout capability to build nuclear weapons, Iran has won itself “a seat at the grown-up table.” (The National)
Eyad Abu Shakra [46] says Arab Shiites are Iran’s first victims. (Asharq al-Awsat)