Daily News Issue Date: 
December 19, 2013
News: 

News:

Palestinians say they are ready to extend peace talks with Israel beyond the April deadline. (AP/AFP)

Palestinian negotiators say a framework agreement with Israel is within reach. (Los Angeles Times/PNN)

Sec. Kerry is reportedly pressuring Israel not to announce more settlements following the next prisoner release. (Xinhua)

Pres. Abbas has reportedly sent a letter to Pres. Obama outlining his concerns about a US proposal. (Xinhua/Ha'aretz)

A senior PLO official urges the EU to place sanctions on whatever party thwarts peace talks. (Xinhua)

PM Netanyahu vows to continue with settlement expansion. (AFP)

A recent survey suggests many settlers would voluntarily leave a Palestinian state. (Al Monitor)

Abbas' guards intervene in a violent confrontation among PA security officers and officials. (Ha'aretz/Jerusalem Post/Times of Israel)

Palestinian businesses suffer millions in losses due to the recent snowstorms. (Ma'an)

The UN says nearly 1 million Palestinians in Gaza will need food aid in 2014. (Reuters)

Two Palestinians are killed by Israeli occupation forces in separate West Bank incidents. (Los Angeles Times/YNet/Times of Israel)

Palestinians say the killings threaten the future of peace talks. (AFP)

Israeli occupation forces shoot in the back and kill a Palestinian security officer they were seeking to arrest. (Reuters/AP/Xinhua)

Palestinians say the officer was killed "in cold blood." (Ma'an)

Israeli occupation forces detain another Palestinian security officer after raiding his home. (Ma'an)

Eight more Palestinians are detained by Israeli occupation forces in the West Bank. (Ma'an)

In a deep crisis, Hamas is seeking support and guidance from Gaza intellectuals. (Al Monitor)

Israel will ask Pope Francis to reconsider only holding a mass in occupied Bethlehem. (YNet)

The Roman Catholic patriarch in Jerusalem says Israeli settlements hamper peace. (YNet)

China's Foreign Minister visits Israel amid the backdrop of controversy over an antiterrorism case. (AP)

China reiterates its support for the Palestinian cause. (PNN)

Pres. Peres tells the Chinese FM peace is Israel's greatest desire and Iran is its greatest problem. (Jerusalem Post)

Egyptian prosecutors accuse former Pres. Morsi of a vast terrorist plot. (New York Times/AP)

The charges against Morsi include plotting with Hamas and "espionage." (AFP/Washington Post)

The last charges against former Egyptian Pres. Mubarak's final PM are dropped. (Reuters)

The Egyptian military counteroffensive in Sinai is still proving relatively ineffective. (Ha'aretz)

Almost 2,000 Palestinians have died in the Syrian conflict. (Jerusalem Post)

Like some other Middle Eastern countries, Tunisia is worried about their own youths beingradicalized by fighting in Syria. (New York Times)

Syrian Kurds want their own delegation at the upcoming Geneva peace talks. (Reuters)

The UN says people in Syria are systematically disappearing in a nationwide "terror" campaign. (AP/BBC)

Amnesty International accuses extremist Syrian rebels of atrocities. (Reuters)

Syrians are positioned to soon become the world's largest group of refugees. (Reuters)

The US denies Syrian rebel suggestions it is prepared to live with Pres. Assad. (Jerusalem Post)

Attacks on Shiite pilgrims and others kill 24 in Iraq. (AP)

Iran will soon resume nuclear negotiations with the P5+1. (Xinhua)

PM Erdogan says a new corruption probe is just an effort to to smear his government. (Reuters)

Several senior Turkish police officials are fired after corruption arrests. (Reuters)

An influential US-based Turkish cleric denies he is behind the corruption probe. (AP)

Nine officials and executives are facing corruption charges in Oman. (Reuters)

The American Studies Association faces a backlash after adopting a resolution supporting boycotts against Israel. (Ha'aretz)

Commentary:

The PLO issues a "fact sheet" about occupied Bethlehem. (PLO)

Avi Issacharoff says recent West Bank violence shows a third intifada is in the making. (Times of Israel)

Yonatan Gher says, rather than being upset about being accused of "apartheid," Israel should make sure it doesn't practice it. (YNet)

Laura Wharton says Israel's new administration in Jerusalem is a cause for serious alarm. (Jordan Times)

Shlomi Eldar says Israel and Hamas have an unwritten code of coexistence. (Al Monitor)

The Daily Star says the EU doesn't have much more credibility on settlements than the US. (The Daily Star)

In an open letter to Abbas, Carlo Strenger says the Palestinians' fate is in their own hands. (Ha'aretz)

Maysoon Zayid explains why she is a supporter of the one-state agenda. (Daily Beast/Open Zion)

Uri Sadot says Israel doesn't face a demographic "time bomb," as long as you don't count the population of Gaza. (Foreign Policy)

Khaled Diab notes that reactions to apartheid in South Africa varied widely throughout the Arab world. (Ha'aretz)

Marissa Young claims the PA is punishing Palestinians who seek to build ties with Israelis. (Jerusalem Post)

Owen Kirby says a nuclear deal with Iran hardly means the end of its regional ambitions. (Jerusalem Post)

The New York Times says the West should support the political compromises ongoing in Tunisia. (New York Times)

The CSM says Tunisia is still an Arab Spring inspiration. (Christian Science Monitor)

Ariel Ben Solomon says Egyptian DM Sisi is determined to stamp out all opposition. (Jerusalem Post)

Michael Young calls for an "honest debate" about Syrian refugees in Lebanon. (The National)

Michael Young also says Hezbollah has become cannon fodder in a war with Al Qaeda. (The Daily Star)

Jean Aziz notes that Hezbollah is hinting at a change of attitudes towards the US and Lebanon. (Al Monitor)

Osama Al Sharif says the apparent collapse of the FSA and SMC in Syria is a cause for serious alarm. (Arab News)

Samir Atallah says the region is experiencing so much state failure, the Arab world has no simple metaphor for chaos. (Asharq Al Awsat)

Francis Matthews acknowledges the US is working hard to allay GCC fears about its policies. (Gulf News)

Henri Barkey says Abdullah Gul and democracy may prove the winners in the latest Turkish upheaval. (Al Monitor)


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