Date

News:

Palestinian negotiators reportedly offer to resign over planned new Israeli settlement activity, but Pres. Abbas is unlikely to accept. (New York Times/Ma'an)

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat denies offering to resign. (YNet)

Sec. Kerry will meet with Abbas in Bethlehem next week. (Jerusalem Post)

An Israeli attack on a Gaza smuggling tunnel reportedly kills four Hamas militants. (AP/Reuters/Xinhua)

Five Israeli soldiers are injured in Gaza. (YNet/Times of Israel)

Palestinians say Israel is preparing to destroy the homes of 15,000 Palestinian residents of occupied East Jerusalem. (Ma'an)

Israeli occupation officials are trying to control pollution in the West Bank. (Christian Science Monitor)

Settlers destroy 300 newly planted olive trees in Qalqiliya in the occupied West Bank. (Ma'an)

The Israeli military withdraws from 13 communities near the Gaza border. (Xinhua)

The main Gaza power plant once again stops functioning due to lack of fuel supplies. (Xinhua)

Israel reportedly attacks a shipment of Russian missiles inside Syria, that were perhaps bound for Hezbollah. (AP/YNet/Ha'aretz)

The US announces that Israel will be the first foreign country to receive the new V-22 Osprey military aircraft. (Los Angeles Times/Ha'aretz)

Economic and military ties between Israel and India are expanding. (The Media Line)

PM al-Maliki is in Washington seeking support amid a growing security crisis. (New York Times/AP/Christian Science Monitor)

Sec. Kerry is visiting Saudi Arabia and other countries in an effort to smooth relations. (New York Times/AP)

Syrian troops recapture a key town in the north from rebels. (AP)

Syria may be seeking to retain control of a small number of chemical weapons factories. (Foreign Policy)

Egypt declares a state of emergency before the trial of former Pres. Morsi. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Commentary:

Yuval Diskin says to prevent another Palestinian intifada, Israel must encourage hope and prisoner releases part of that. (YNet)

Yossi Verter questions whether PM Netanyahu's coalition can survive infighting over a Palestinian deal. (Ha'aretz)

Yoel Marcus says, in order to make peace, Netanyahu must purge his cabinet of extremists. (Ha'aretz)

Elisheva Goldberg is sure that there was a deal between Netanyahu and Bennett trading prisoner release for more settlements. (Daily Beast/Open Zion)

The Jerusalem Post dismisses the idea that Israeli settlements are an obstacle to peace. (Jerusalem Post)

Shaul Arieli says Israel's founders knew partition is necessary for it to be Jewish, but the Greater Israel movement threatens this. (Ha'aretz)

The Economist doubts an interim agreement will really advance Israeli-Palestinian peace. (The Economist)

Hillel Halkin says there's nothing wrong with Jewish Americans putting Israel first. (The Forward)

Yaakov Lappin says Israel faces daily dilemmas about what to do regarding Syria and Hezbollah's arms supplies. (Jerusalem Post)

Zvi Bar'el says as the US is moving away from Egypt, Russia is moving in. (Ha'aretz)

Rye Druzin says the rift between the US and Gulf states is expanding. (The Media Line)

Marwan Kabalan says US Gulf allies need reassurances. (Gulf News)

Aaron David Miller asks if the US really has a special relationship with Saudi Arabia, and if so, is it worth keeping. (Foreign Policy)

Paul Danahar says the US left Iraq a broken mess. (BBC)

Asharq Al-Awsat interviews Egyptian FM Fahmi. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Manuel Almeida says PM Erdoğan is his own worst enemy. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Andrew Parasiliti interviews Ali Al-Moussawi, a top advisor to PM Al-Maliki. (Al Monitor)

Palash Ghosh profiles the large Palestinian community in Chile. (IB Times)

Uri Avnery says as he turns 90 he still advocates Palestinian statehood and believes it can happen in his lifetime. (The Independent)


American Task Force on Palestine - 1634 Eye St. NW, Suite 725, Washington DC 20006 - Telephone: 202-262-0017