Mideast envoy George Mitchell arrives in Israel for talks with Israeli and Palestinian leadership (1). The New York Times looks at how the continued blockade of Gaza is affecting the humanitarian situation (2). Thomas Friedman reexamines Saudi King Abdullah’s peace plan (3). Pat Buchanan predicts conflicts between U.S. President Obama and Israeli Prime Ministerial candidate Benjamin Netanyahu (4). The Israeli group Peace Now reports that settlement expansion accelerated in 2008 compared with the previous year (6). Egypt condemns Iran, Hamas, and Hezbollah as provokers of conflict (7).