News:

Hamas militants clash with Israeli occupation forces near the Gaza border. (New York Times/AP)

A Palestinian is reportedly killed, and an Israeli soldier injured, in the fighting. (Ma'an)

Israel approves 400 new settlement housing units. (Ha'aretz)

Pres. Abbas says the PA may "cut ties" with Israel if a draft Palestinian UN resolution fails. (Ma'an)

Israel's outgoing government is pumping millions of dollars into Jewish settlements ahead of national elections. (AP)

FM Lieberman declares that he is part of a "pragmatic national camp." (Jerusalem Post/Times of Israel)

Bethlehem prepares to celebrate Christmas Eve. (Ma'an)

Palestinian Christians in the occupied West Bank remain welcoming. (New York Times)

Palestinian Christians in Gaza face a bittersweet Christmas. (Ma'an)

Orphans in Gaza are still traumatized after the summer war. (The National)

ISIS extremists claim to have shot down a Jordanian jet from the US-led coalition, and has definitely captured the pilot. (New York Times/AP/Los Angeles Times)

Jordan confirms the loss of the plane and the capture of the pilot. (Xinhua/BBC)

ISIS is reportedly making slow progress in Syria despite US-led airstrikes. (The Media Line)

A suicide attack kills at least 24 people near Baghdad. (AP/Xinhua)

The search is on for a diplomatic solution to the war in Syria. (AP)

Kurdish forces are engaged in a fierce battle with ISIS extremists in Sinjar. (AP)

The price of oil sinks to a mere $60 a barrel. (AP)

Democracy activists in Jordan say the country is using a new antiterrorism law to stifle dissent. (Christian Science Monitor)

The UN says rival factions in Libya agree "in principle" to peace talks. (Reuters)

Tunisia's new president will focus on the economy. (AP)

Commentary:

Lieberman says PM Netanyahu's status quo approach has failed and Israel needs a peace agreement. (Ha'aretz)

Avi Shilon says Lieberman gives pragmatism a bad name. (Ha'aretz)

Dan Goldenblatt says a two-state solution has failed, and it's time to look at an Israeli-Palestinian confederation. (The Forward)

Zvi Bar'el says Israel should try recognizing, and negotiating with, a Palestinian state. (Ha'aretz)

Raphael Ahren calls the latest Palestinian UN initiative "capricious" and "possibly self-defeating." (Times of Israel)

Amira Hass says Abbas is a "monarch" and a "subcontractor of the occupation." (Ha'aretz)

Christian Caryl says it's a grim Christmas for Middle Eastern Christians, who face the destruction of their world. (Foreign Policy)

Rashmee Roshan Lall says ISIS' brutality portends its eventual defeat. (The National)

Omar al-Jaffal says ISIS is consolidating its control over Anbar province. (Al Monitor)

Osama Al Sharif says Jordan has a crucial role in the war against extremism. (Jordan Times)

Aaron David Miller says Pres. Obama is no lame duck on foreign policy. (CNN)

Joseph Kechichian says Tunisians have voted for security and accountability. (Gulf News)

Hussein Ibish says Nida Tunis may face lose-lose scenarios in victory, and Ennahda win-win ones in defeat. (NOW)