PM Fayyad explains the state-building program. Palestinians object to Israel's latest settlement expansion plan in occupied East Jerusalem. Leaked cables suggest Israel considered Pres. Abbas to be weak and unpopular and Pres. Peres called the Oslo agreements a mistake. A former PLO leader dies in Jordan. Fayyad is named among the world's top 100 thinkers. Aid groups say the Gaza blockade remains devastating. Israel has a new spy chief. The Non-Aligned Movement calls on Israel to cease settlement activity. Palestinians mark the 63rd anniversary of the UN partition plan. Gaza farmers are now exporting to Europe. Akiva Eldar calls PM Netanyahu unreliable. Israeli hummus is the target of a boycott campaign at Princeton. Abbas calls settlements a time bomb. Likud MKs and members call for Netanyahu's ouster. Hassan Barari says the Arabs must make continuing the occupation more costly than ending it. A sick Palestinian toddler's fight for her life is complicated by the occupation.

Israeli companies cash in on global counterterrorism. The UN marks the international Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. Leaked US diplomatic cables suggests Israel tried to coordinate the Gaza war with the PA, but the PA says it did not cooperate. They also cite Egyptian officials as saying neither Hamas nor Fatah was serious about Palestinian unity. Kadima leader Tzipi Livni says they show a common interest in peace. Tony Blair says Israel must do more to ease conditions in Gaza. Gaza resumes limited exports to Europe. Israeli soldiers wound four Palestinians in Gaza. Israeli officials approve another 137 housing units in occupied East Jerusalem. Israeli human rights workers have video of soldiers shooting bound Palestinian prisoners. Israel launches another effort to improve its international image. The Independent profiles a Palestinian extremist in Gaza. Arab leaders accuse PM Netanyahu of rejecting peace. Hussein Shabokshi says Israeli secularism is dying. Rami Khouri says the lack of an Arab or Palestinian strategy facilitates one-sided US support for Israel. The Arab News says peace cannot depend on Israeli referenda.

PM Fayyad says Palestinians are committed to green development as well as independence. Palestinian state building efforts extend into occupied East Jerusalem. The eviction of a Palestinian family by settlers in Jerusalem and new Israeli legislation requiring referendums on peace deals stir tensions. Palestinian courts differ on punishing land sales to Israelis. Occupation forces destroy a Palestinian home in Jerusalem. Pres. Abbas says PLO headquarters will eventually be in Jerusalem. Hamas officials say Fatah officials can only leave the Gaza Strip if Hamas operatives are released in the West Bank. Doubts persist about progress on peace. Israel's claims to Jerusalem leave it internationally isolated. Ha'aretz says Israel's leaders have handcuffed themselves to the extreme right. Amira Hass says Israeli generals and not just soldiers should face charges over the use of human shields. Palestinians clash with occupation forces over home demolitions. 100 leading Norwegians call for a cultural boycott of Israel because of the occupation. Alon Ben-Meir says Robert Wexler would make a good Mideast envoy. Palestinians might use the Kosovo model for a declaration of independence. The Forward profiles an Israeli Bedouin diplomat. PLO officials say they will insist on a complete settlement halt.

Israel is going forward with a bill that would require a referendum for some withdrawals of occupied territory. Palestinians denounce the move. Pres. Obama faces a tough audience in the Middle East. Nablus' governor speaks about an alleged Hamas assassination plot against him. Right wing settlers are trying to force a Palestinian family out of their home in occupied East Jerusalem. Akiva Eldar says US will not allow Israel to build in Jerusalem flashpoints. Ha'aretz says settlers are turning water sources in the West Bank into tourist sites. A leader of Palestinian nonviolent protests is held in Israeli prison after completing his sentence. A Jaffa imam is released from jail. Larry Derfner looks at the treatment of Palestinians by the Israeli legal system. Gershon Baskin says time is running out for Israel to make peace. The Israeli military prepares for more settler violence. Oliver Miles looks at the difficulties in applying international law to the conflict. The Independent profiles an Israeli-Palestinian marriage. The campaign to free convicted spy Jonathan Pollard continues. Mary Robinson and Lakhdar Brahimi say the Gaza blockade harms women. Ghassan Khatib says settlements make Israel less secure. Yossi Alpher says the US should promote Palestinian state building rather than focus on settlements.

Pres. Abbas demands a complete halt to settlements, including in Jerusalem. Dan Kurtzer says the settlement freeze deal will be rewarding Israel's bad behavior. The West Bank settlement of Ariel could be a sticking point in the deal. South African performances in Israel stir controversy. Gazans are shocked at how many Palestinians are being arrested by Hamas for spying for Israel. Palestinians say Israel shoots to kill in Gaza. Settlers begin expanding a settlement near Nablus. The Palestinian price index continues to rise. There is little chance of a Palestinian unity deal. Palestinians object to Israel's planned renovation of the Western Wall. Israeli soldiers are sentenced for using Palestinian children as human shields in Gaza, but Palestinians say the punishments are too light. PM Netanyahu says there will be no settlement deal without US guarantees in writing. Israeli military officials say Tel Aviv may be a target in another war. Gideon Levy decries Israeli military censorship. According to a new survey, most Palestinians see two states as a precursor to one. The Israel Project releases a new poll of Palestinians. Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed says Abbas has erred by focusing on settlements. Hussein Shobokshi says Israel is being led by a right wing that's not interested in peace. Shlomo Ben-Ami says citizen diplomacy is a key to peace.

Gazans from across the political divide come together to reopen sports clubs. Palestinians say they won't be a pretext for US arms sales to Israel. Nablus' governor tours the city after a foiled Hamas assassination plot. The US blocks Palestinian moves for greater recognition in the UN. The US and Israel are struggling over terms of a settlement freeze deal. Israel condemns a web posting about Israeli soldiers. An Israeli airstrike kills two Palestinians in Gaza. Militants fire rockets into Israel from Gaza. A fired AIPAC staffer says he had no choice but to sue the organization, which hits back with more accusations. Doron Rosenblum says Zionism is becoming a childish religion. David Horovitz laments US-Israel tensions. Safed is becoming a hotbed of anti-Arab sentiment. The Jerusalem Post looks at the F-35 fighters the US may sell to Israel. Israel says the US has agreed it can build in occupied East Jerusalem, but no US document has been presented. Kieron Monks says aid to Palestine is life-support not development. Accusations grow against Steven Emerson. Israeli education students boycott the settlement of Ariel. Abdul Rahman Al-Rashid says Pres. Arafat is badly missed.

Israel approves a plan to withdraw from Ghajar, a village on Lebanon Border and Edmund Sanders of the LA Times discusses it with Ghajar leader, Najib Khatib. The Christian Science Monitor profiles a Gazan businessman who is surviving the blockade. Northern West Bank cities see an influx of Palestinian-Israelis for Eid. Israel’s attorney general requests the eviction of settlers in East Jerusalem as the Israeli Supreme Court approves more Israeli building in Jaffa. A U.S. official says East Jerusalem must be included in a new settlement freeze and PM Netanyahu says the US and Israel are close to reaching an agreement. An Al Qaeda-linked group issues threats. An IDF officer is suspected of blocking a probe into Gaza civilian deaths.

The New York Times looks at David Grossman's new novel. Israeli officials say time is running out for peace. The Washington Post says the US needs a comprehensive peace plan. The PA says it foiled a Hamas plot to assassinate a Palestinian official. US officials will brief Palestinian leaders. Israeli authorities in occupied East Jerusalem unveil a new zoning plan. Israel demands US settlement freeze incentives in writing, and officials say they are confused by PM Netanyahu's accounts of the offer. More Israelis call for the release of convicted spy Jonathan Pollard. Israel unveils its latest antimissile system. AIPAC accuses a former staffer of misconduct in a defamation lawsuit. US taxpayer funds have been used in occupation-related projects. A settler is convicted of kidnapping and abusing a Palestinian youth. David Newman says both Israel and the Palestinians must educate their people for peace. The JTA asks what the administration will do in the next 90 days. Jonathan Cook says Washington's inducement offer is the last hope for peace.

Roger Cohen says Sec. Clinton has taken charge of US peace efforts. The US is still pressing for a 90 day settlement freeze, but it's unclear if this would advance the process and the Arab League may not accept it. A former Israeli soldier exposes abuse of Palestinians in Hebron. Hanan Ashrawi says Israeli settlement activity threatens a two-state solution. Palestinians and settlers clash over olive groves. Aaron David Miller says to achieve peace, Pres. Obama will have to use all his political capital. The US admits its peace deadline may be slipping. Israel puts a controversial settlement plan in occupied East Jerusalem on hold. Avi Issacharoff says Netanyahu may be pushing the Palestinians to declare independence. Israeli and Dubai police officials meet. UNRWA employees in the West Bank go on strike. Israeli intelligence officials say without peace, there will be chaos. The BBC looks at Israel's rightward political shift. Chris Guinness says development is essential for peace. Ali Ibrahim says Israel is extracting a huge price for the freeze extension. Mahmoud Jaraba says Hamas should be encouraged to moderate its policies.

A US proposal for a 90-day settlement freeze extension is expected to be adopted by the Israeli cabinet. It may anticipate that the outlines of borders can be set in the next three months. Defense analysts say Israel could not turn down so many advanced fighter jets. The New York Times says PM Netanyahu should stop playing games and get serious about peace, and Tom Friedman says he seems to think he can fly. A new book looks at graffiti art in Gaza. PM Fayyad says Palestinians need political, but not security, pluralism. Israel claims Hamas missiles can reach Tel Aviv. Fatah and Hamas blame each other for failed unity talks. Zvi Bar'el says it might make sense for Palestinians to seek UN recognition. Aluf Benn says Pres. Obama really wants Netanyahu to change his cabinet. The Independent profiles an Israeli holocaust survivor who is harassed for renting rooms to Palestinian students. The National says the US is an enabler, not a friend, of Israel. Hussein Shobokshi accuses Israel of racism. Ghanem Nuseibeh says Arab states must be part of a peace arrangement.