NEWS:

Israel is seeking massive low-interest US bridge loans of billions of dollars for a Pentagon-proposed package of V-22 Ospreys, F-15 radars and precision-strike weaponry. (Defense News)

American lawmakers are proposing to triple US aid for Israeli missile defense programs. (Jerusalem Post)

The State Department calls Israel's new settlement projects "unhelpful," but says it remains hopeful about the prospects for new negotiations. (Times of Israel/KUNA)

Israel's right-wing housing minister claims there has been a de facto "settlement freeze" in occupied East Jerusalem since the beginning of the year, and says settler complaints should be targeted at the PM's office. (Xinhua/Jerusalem Post)

FM Al-Malki denounces comments from Deputy DM Danon that "there will never be a Palestinian state." (Ma'an)

A senior Palestinian official says PM Netanyahu "is not an extremist," but that he must freeze settlement activity before negotiations resume. (Times of Israel)

UK Minister for the Middle East, Alistair Burt, says "a Palestinian state without Gaza is inconceivable." (PNN)

Report suggests Sweden may cut aid to Palestinians, given the lack of progress on negotiations with Israel. (PNN)

Israeli police say Jewish extremists have torched two Palestinian cars in an Arab neighborhood of Jerusalem, and vandalized a Christian cemetery in Jaffa. (AP/Xinhua)

Thousands of Bedouins protest Israeli plans for their eviction from the southern Negev desert. (Xinhua)

The Israeli military denies allegations soldiers forced a Muslim Palestinian to drink wine at gunpoint. (Ma'an)

The Israeli military says it has discovered two tunnels under its West Bank separation barrier (Ma'an)

Palestinian lawyers say they will stage a one-day strike to protest an alleged assault on one of their members by anti-drug police in Bethlehem. (Ma'an)

Former Palestinian women prisoners in Israeli jails recount their experiences. (Al Monitor)

Some Israeli parents object to their children visiting an amusement park accused of "apartheid" policies against Palestinians. (Ha'aretz)

The West Bank’s only ballet school offers a refuge for Palestinian kids. (PRI)

Palestinian refugee elders in Lebanon keep traditions alive by various means including hosting traditional weddings. (VOA)

COMMENTARY:

Abdulmajeed Swelem says former PM Fayyad was, and will continue to be, a "warrior" for Palestine. (Al Ayam, translated by ATFP)

David Makovsky says Europe should get tough with the Palestinians, and the US get tough with Israel, for the sake of peace. (New York Times)

The Jerusalem Post says there is a troubling incoherence in the Israeli governments conflicting comments about policy towards a two-state solution. (Jerusalem Post)

Akiva Eldar also says the Israeli government needs to decide once and for all if it's for a two-state solution or not. (Al Monitor)

Uri Dromi also says Israel needs clarity regarding its position on Palestinian statehood. (Miami Herald)

Lorenzo Kamel points out that the alternative to a two-state solution is more conflict, not a one-state solution of any kind. (Al Monitor)

Matthew Kalman lists seven ways he thinks Netanyahu is destroying Israeli diplomacy. (Daily Beast/Open Zion)

Daniel Levy says it's ridiculous to call European labeling of Israeli settlement products "anti-Semitic." (Ha'aretz)

Mira Sucharov says Jewish youths need to learn that ending the reoccupation and allowing a Palestinian state is a win-win scenario. (Ha'aretz)

Ha'aretz says Israel must close the huge gaps in standard of living between Jewish and Arab citizens. (Ha'aretz)

Salman Masalha says Islamic movements are dangerous for Palestinian citizens of Israel, just like Jewish extremism is for Jewish Israelis, and Israel should simply ban all religious parties. (Ha'aretz)

Oded Even-Or says both Israeli and Palestinian groups train youngsters for violence. (YNet)

David Weinberg says Jewish refugees from Arab states need justice too. (Jerusalem Post)

Jeanette Horowitz says even though Boulder decided not to become a sister city with Nablus, real progress was made in the process. (JTA)

Mohammed Suliman describes the difficulties of crossing from Gaza to Egypt. (Al Monitor)

Ha'aretz interviews Mohammed Dajani, who is convinced his moderate movement will ultimately become a dominant Palestinian political force, but not in his lifetime. (Ha'aretz)