The New York Times reports on positive signs coming out of the West Bank city of Jenin (1). Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas comments on the status of talks with Israel (3, 5). Improved security conditions are taking hold in Hebron (6). ATFP Board Member Saliba Sarsar writes about the life of Dan Bar-On (7).

IDF soldiers shoot and kill a Palestinian during a raid last night in the West Bank city of Nablus (1). In an op-ed for the Washington Post Daniel Seidemann cautions against his hometown of Jerusalem being used to influence U.S. voters (2). Human -rights group B?Tselem reports that Israeli authorities and settlers have seized large tracts of land in the West Bank to be used as ?security zones? (3). Palestinian security forces are making a positive difference in the West Bank town of Hebron (4).

The Guardian examines the recently prominent role of video footage in telling the story of occupation (1). Officials from Hamas and Islamic Jihad meet in Syria to discuss tension between the two groups within Gaza (2). Amr Musa, the Secretary General of the Arab League warns about possible sanctions against the fractured Palestinian groups (4). Yossi Alpher comments on the reestablishment of relations between Hamas and Jordan (5). Extensive delay at an IDF checkpoint causes the stillborn birth of a Palestinian child (8).

CNN correspondent Paula Hancock visits the training facilities and rocket factories of The Popular Resistance Committees in Gaza (1). Israeli security officials are reportedly disturbed by the increase in violence by Jewish settlers in the West Bank (2). A rocket fired from Gaza lands in southern Israel but causes no injuries or damage (4). Protest against the separation barrier in the West Bank town of Naalin continues (10). Jordan restores relations with Hamas following a series of meetings in Amman (11).

An article in the New York Times discusses Raja Shehadah’s recent book “Palestinian Walks: Forays Into a Vanishing Landscape” (1). Palestinian national poet Mahmoud Darwish is buried in Ramallah today (2) while Arab News profiles his remarkable life (5). Israel chooses not to pursue legal action against the tank crew that killed a Reuters cameraman and eight bystanders in Gaza four months ago (3). The Middle East Times notes the marked shift in Hamas’ public stance towards militants who violate the truce with rocket fire into Israel (4).

Israel proposes ideas for the West Bank, the terms of which the Palestinians find unacceptable (1). A recent poll of Israeli citizens finds that three in ten would like former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to return to power after Ehud Olmert steps down (2). Israel announces that it will close its Gaza border crossings with Gaza after a recent rocket attack (3). The impoverished Gaza strip faces a serious cash shortage (4). Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank intensifies (6) (8).

Mahmoud Darwish, respected Palestinian poet, dies after complications from heart surgery at the age of 67, and will be honored with an official funeral (1) (7). The BBC looks at life on the ground in blockaded Gaza (3). Eight Palestinians are killed as an underground smuggling tunnel collapses near the Egypt-Gaza border (5). Israel’s recent decision to build 447 new settler homes around Jerusalem draws criticism from the French EU Presidency (9). Three articles from Bitterlemons.org examine different scenarios for the Annapolis process (10) (11) (12).

The two IDF soldiers who were caught on video abusing a Palestinian detainee have been indicted and the commanding officer has resigned his post (1) (2), though the leniency of reassignment has prompted outrage among human rights organizations. (5). A Gaza-based militant group warns that the truce which has been tenuously holding between Gaza and Israel for the past month is in danger of collapsing (7). Israel approves the construction of 447 new homes in the settlements around Jerusalem (8) (12).

An IDF commander and sergeant are being brought to trial over the recent shooting of a Palestinian detainee (2). British diplomats traveling by car through the West Bank town of Hebron are attacked by a group of settlers (3). Two articles discuss the network of underground smuggling tunnels that are supplying the blockaded Gaza strip (4) (5). In a meeting with Mahmoud Abbas Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert pledges the release of 150 Palestinian prisoners (7).

An opinion poll published in Al-Ghad Daily, and translated by ATFP, shows an increase in the popularity of Mahmoud Abbas and his Fatah party among Palestinians (1). Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak vows to continue military strikes against Gaza, despite the truce that has been holding tenuously for the past month (4). Jordan renews their talks with Hamas, after a two year freeze (5). Tensions continue to increase between Hamas and Fatah as both sides apply public pressure on the other (7) (8).