News:

Gaza residents fear more isolation after an Egyptian court declares Hamas a terrorist organization. (AP)

Hamas supporters rally in Gaza against the Egyptian court ruling. (Ma’an)

Hamas is reportedly trying to mend its relationship with Iran. (Times of Israel)

Gaza’s only power plant is due to shut down by the end of this week as donor funding for fuel has run out. (Ma’an)

Israel says it has busted an Israeli-Palestinian smuggling ring that funneled iron, electronic equipment and other prohibited materials to Gaza. (AP/JTA/Ha’aretz/Times of Israel)

A Palestinian court postpones its verdict in the graft trial of exiled former Fatah official Dahlan. (AFP) 

King Abdullah of Jordan says the absence of Middle East peace will complicate the anti-terror fight.  (Jordan Times)

Israeli occupation forces detain eight Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem. (Ma’an)

The IDF calls up 13000 reservists and holds a surprise training exercises in the occupied West Bank. (JTA)

The US and Israel show signs of seeking to defuse tensions ahead of a speech in Washington by PM Netanyahu. (Reuters/Washington Post) 

Netanyahu and top US officials are set to face off in dueling speeches on the high-stakes Iran nuclear negotiations. (AP/New York Times)

Sec. Kerry accuses the UN Human Rights Council of being obsessed by allegations of Israeli abuses. (Reuters/Washington Post/Times of Israel/Jerusalem Post)

The Iraqi army and Shiite militias launch an offensive to retake Tikrit from ISIS. (Reuters/AP/Washington Post/New York Times/The National)

Former Sec. Powell says the failure of Iraqi government allowed ISIS to flourish. (The National)

AP looks at how “Islamic is ISIS.” (AP)

Pres. Sisi meets with King Salman in Riyadh to discuss Middle East crises. (Reuters/The National)

PM Ensour announces a cabinet reshuffle. (Reuters/Jordan Times)

Audio recordings of senior Egyptian officials suggest that when Morsi was president, the UAE gave the Egyptian Defense Ministry money for a protest campaign against him. (New York Times)

The Washington Post looks at the conditions inside a Saudi prison. (Washington Post)

FM Zarif says a nuclear deal hinges on the US will to lift sanctions. (Reuters)

Kerry warns that a public discussion of details of the ongoing P5+1 negotiations with Iran will make itmore difficult to reach a deal. (AP/New York Times/Ha’aretz/Times of Israel)

Commentary:

Ahmad Melhem says recent clashes in the West Bank between security forces and protesters have triggered Palestinian fears that stability will be difficult to restore. (Al-Monitor)

Moshe Arens says the reason prospects of an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement are hardly discussed ahead of the election is that the vast majority of Israelis don’t believe in them. (Ha’aretz)

Avi Issacharoff says Netanyahu’s electoral trip to Washington will ignore the occupied West Bank to Israel’s peril. (Times of Israel)

Nahum Barnea asks if Netanyahu’s speech is “historic or hysteric.” (Ynet)

David Rothkopf says Pres. Obama needs to refocus the discussion on the larger Mideast strategy. (Foreign Policy)

Yochi Dreazen and Colum Lynch profile Amb. Dermer. (Foreign Policy)

Rami Khouri says Netanyahu is threatening the US-Israel relationship. (Daily Star)

Don Futterman asks AIPAC delegates to stand with Israel and not with Netanyahu. (Ha’aretz)

Jackson Diehl says in appealing to Congress, Netanyahu may win votes but hurt ties. (Washington Post)

Ray Takeyh looks at Ayatollah Khamenei’s “strategic genius.” (Washington Post)

The Daily Star looks at the repercussions of an Iranian nuclear deal. (Daily Star)

Hussein Ibish says organisations that counter extremism struggle to find funding. (The National)

Robert Grenier says we should remember that the threat posed to the US by radical Islam, while real, is not an existential one. (New York Times)

Abdul Rahman Al Rashed says Iran is at Saudi Arabia’s frontiers. (Al Arabiya)

Hisham Melhem says an Arab world without its Christian communities will be more insular, more rigid, less hospitable and more desolate. (Al Arabiya)

Gerard Russell says it would be tragic if the Assyrians leave the region. (The National)