NEWS:

Official Israeli figures show another significant spike in settlement activity. (AP)

Palestinian officials accuse Israeli companies of forging property documents to facilitate settlement building. (Xinhua)

Israeli occupation authorities order the destruction of eight Palestinian properties in the flashpoint East Jerusalem neighborhood of Silwan. (Ma'an)

Palestinian officials say Pres. Abbas will meet Sec. Kerry early this week, but Kerry's trip may be postponed. (Ma'an/PNN)

Labour Party leader Yacimovich tells PM Netanyahu she'd be willing to join his coalition in support of serious peace efforts. (Jerusalem Post)

Senior Israeli officials disavow Deputy DM Danon's recent repudiation of a two-state solution. (Irish Times/YNet/Times of Israel)

Former FM Lieberman joins those claiming there has been a "de facto settlement freeze" in occupied East Jerusalem since the beginning of the year. (Ha'aretz/Jerusalem Post)

Jailed Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti says current US peace efforts are "unfair" because they are "biased towards Israel." (Xinhua)

Israeli and Palestinian leaders continue to blame each other for lack of progress on peace. (The National)

Israel bars Fatah official Jibril Rajoub from entering Israel. (Times of Israel)

A Knesset panel pushes forward with a controversial new, sweeping and very broad "anti-terror" law. (Xinhua)

Palestinian farmers near Israel's Gaza "buffer zone" face continuous dangers to both their lives and crops from occupation forces. (New York Times)

Israeli forces shoot and injure a Palestinian farmer in southern Gaza. (Ma'an)

Palestinians clash with Israeli settlers at "Joseph's tomb." (Ma'an)

Four Palestinians receive life in prison for the 2010 murder of an Israeli police officer. (Jerusalem Post)

The PA economy minister walks out of a BDS meeting, and security forces are accused of beating an activist who criticized him. (Jerusalem Post)

Palestinians in Hebron launch the first protest against the new government of PM Hamdallah. (Jerusalem Post)

The head of the Palestinian public employees union welcomes the PA cabinet reshuffle. (Ma'an)

Israel is trying to stay out of the Syrian war despite heavy fighting near the occupied Golan Heights. (Reuters)

The frontier between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights is seen as increasingly unstable. (Xinhua)

Israel's military exports jumped by 20% in 2012. (Xinhua)

Israel is making cyber security recruitment and training a priority as early as 10th grade. (Christian Science Monitor)

Israel ranks low among countries in providing aid to poor nations. (Los Angeles Times)

Experts squabble over whether mass graves in Jaffa originate from the 1948 war or World War I. (Ha'aretz)

COMMENTARY:

J.J. Goldberg says Israeli security officials believe Netanyahu's policies are preventing serious negotiations with the Palestinians, and that the political and security establishments are deeply at odds over policy towards the Palestinians. (The Forward)

Khaled Abu Toameh says some Palestinian leaders are spreading extreme rhetoric that compromises peace with Israel. (Gatestone)

Ben Caspit says the US still believes Netanyahu is not the main obstacle to peace. (Al Monitor)

Nathan Jeffay says discrimination at an Israeli amusement park is just the tip of the iceberg, and discrimination against Arabs is rampant there. (The Forward)

Eitan Haber says Israel is losing American support as US interests in the Middle East are evolving. (YNet)

Amira Hass looks at Hamdallah's record in building An-Najah University. (Ha'aretz)

Yossi Sarid says the Jewish National Fund has outlived its usefulness. (Ha'aretz)

Romana Michelon looks at the prospects of a third intifada for EU policy. (FRIDE) 

Itamar Rabinovich says, from an Israeli point of view, that without significant US intervention the war in Syria is likely to become a regional one. (Hoover)

Amira Hass says Palestinian officials need to learn the media wants information, not familiar clichés. (Ha'aretz)

Barry Rubin calls Kerry's peace efforts "embarrassing." (Jerusalem Post)

Dani Dayan ardently defends Israel's settlement project. (The Guardian)

Uri Avnery calls the 1967 war "a Greek tragedy." (Jerusalem Post)

Michael Bar-Zohar calls 1967 "the war no one wanted." (Jerusalem Post)

Daniella Cheslow looks at the struggle over the West Bank village of Batir with its ancient terraces, now threatened by Israel's separation barrier. (Tablet)