Date

News:

Hundreds of Palestinians injured during last summer’s war protest in Gaza against official inaction regarding disabled Palestinians. (Ma’an)

Sec. Kerry will meet Pres. Abbas and King Abdullah on the sidelines of the Egypt investment conference. (AFP)

Israeli and Qatari officials reportedly met this week to discuss the reconstruction of Gaza. (Ynet)

Israeli forces open fire at Palestinians across the Gaza border. (Ma’an/PNN)

200 Palestinians from Gaza head to the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem to pray. (Ma’an/PNN)

An Israeli official says the IDF is preparing for ISIS threats from Sinai. (Ha’aretz/Jerusalem Post)

The Israeli army recommends a fence be built on the Jordanian border to ward off any jihadi infiltrators. (Ha’aretz)

Economy minister Bennett visits the Ibrahimi mosque in Hebron under strict security. (Ma’an)

Israel’s center-left opposition is poised for potential victory in the elections next week, with the last opinion polls giving it a solid lead over PM Netanyahu's party. (Reuters/JTA/Times of Israel)

Likud officials blame Netanyahu for poor poll results. (Ha’aretz)

Polls indicate that the party headed by FM Lieberman will also fare poorly in the upcoming election. (Washington Post)

Former Israeli generals target Netanyahu’s “security image.” (JTA)

ISIS is still on the attack, despite internal strife and heavy losses. (New York Times)

UNICEF says countries should negotiate with ISIS to persuade it to let the agency into areas the militants control. (Reuters)

Local groups outside the formal aid sector are helping to fill gaps in the humanitarian response in Syria, reaching communities big agencies cannot access. (Reuters)

Turkey says the spy suspected of helping the three British school girls is a Syrian national working for a country in the US-led coalition against ISIS. (Reuters)

Indonesian officials says 32 people have been held or missing in Turkey, suspected of trying to join ISIS. (Reuters)

The Iraqi offensive to retake Tikrit from ISIS appears to stall. (Reuters)

ISIS tightens its grip on Mosul residents. (AP)

AP looks at Egypt’s economic indicators ahead of the investment conference. (AP)

Sec. Kerry promotes US investment in Egypt but no new military assistance as urged by Pres. Sisi. (AP)

Pres. Sisi’s reputation is bound up in the high stakes economic summit. (The National)

An attack on a checkpoint wounds one army officer and two other soldiers in the Egyptian city of al-Arish in Sinai. (Reuters)

Egypt arrests 75 in connection with a series of attacks on businesses and utilities over the past several months. (New York Times)

Saudi nuclear deal with South Korea raises stakes for the Iran talks. (Wall Street Journal)

Commentary:

Avi Issacharoff says Hamas and Fatah have clear, opposite interests in Israel’s election outcome. (Times of Israel)

Grant Rumley says Abbas and the PA are less interested in who wins the Israeli elections than how they’ll take Israel to court. (Foreign Policy)

Craig Charney asks what’s behind the surge in violence in Jerusalem and the West Bank -- and where will it lead. (Foreign Policy)

Adnan Abu Amer says Hamas is expanding its international outreach. (Al-Monitor)

Eran Rolnik says Israel needs a left that views Jewish-Arab coexistence and the two-state solution as the key to the country’s continued existence as a democracy. (Ha’aretz)

David Horovitz interviews Netanyahu. (Times of Israel)

Salman Masalha explains why he is voting for Meretz and not for the joint Arab list. (Ha’aretz)

Anshel Pfeffer says Israelis are tired of Netanyahu. (Ha’aretz)

Ha’aretz says there is a chance to end Netanyahu’s rule and put Israel back on the track of political moderation and social integration. (Ha’aretz)

Lally Weymouth interviews Sisi. (Washington Post)

The National says this weekend marks an important moment in the post-revolution history of Egypt. (The National)

The Daily Star says the situation in Syria is another Arab catastrophe. (Daily Star)

Raed Omari says ISIS is the enemy of civilization. (Al Arabiya)

James Stavridis asks if ISIS could target Italy. (Washington Post)

Roger Cohen imagines a letter to Americans by Iranian lawmakers. (New York Times)

Michael Gerson says the letter from Republican lawmakers to Iran undermines negotiations. (Washington Post)

Amir Taheri looks at the three main arguments used by the “pro-Mullah lobby” in the West. (Asharq al-Awsat) 

Bethany Allen-Ebrahimian and Yochi Dreazen look at the “real war” on Christianity in the Middle East. (Foreign Policy)


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