An opinion in the International Herald Tribune by Elie Fawaz suggests that the Lebanese government should take advantage of Hezbollah’s current weakened position (1). Reuters reports that Hamas has refused Fatah’s demand it cede Gaza control for reconciliation (6) while the Media Line reports that jailed Fatah leader Marwan Al-Barghouthi has not ruled out his candidacy for chairmanship of the Palestinian Authority (7). An Alon Ben-Meir article in the Middle East Times focuses on the bitter cycle of violence that has developed since the seminary attack (9). Rami Khouri argues in the Daily Star that stalemate between Israel and the Palestinian Authority only increases the popularity of Hamas (10).