NEWS:
The new PA budget, presented by PM Fayyad, calls for $1.4 billion in external financing this year. (Ma'an)

Palestinian factions welcome Qatar's proposal to host a reconciliation summit in Cairo. (Xinhua)

Israeli occupation forces arrest five Hamas activists in Hebron. (Ma'an)

Israeli occupation authorities seize privately held Palestinian land to expand a checkpoint. (Ma'an)

An Israeli occupation commander says Palestinian violence in the West Bank is increasing. (Jerusalem Post)

Palestinians reassert that they have a right to go to the Hague if peace talks with Israel totally fail. (Ha'aretz)

Turkey is reportedly asking Israel for $1 million per fatality from the flotilla incident. (Jerusalem Post)

Settler leaders urge the Israeli military to take former FM Lieberman's advice and authorize soldiers to open fire on rock-throwing Palestinians. (YNet)

Local Gaza journalists boycott a meeting on Hamas' restrictive new press laws. (Al Monitor)

Palestinian refugees fleeing Syria face multiple obstacles trying to enter Jordan. (The Atlantic)

COMMENTARY:
Ha'aretz says Israel needs to be very cautious dealing with developments on the frontier between Syria and the occupied Golan Heights. (Ha'aretz)

Eva Illouz looks at the tension between Israel's "Jewish" and "democratic" characters. (Ha'aretz)

Sami Michael says there is an epidemic of racism in Israeli society. (YNet)

Former FM Lieberman condemns PM Netanyahu's apology to Turkey. (YNet)

Nathan Guttman asks, with former DM Barak gone, who will be the point person in the new Israeli government to deal with the United States. (The Forward)

William Kolbrener says Pres. Obama may have given Netanyahu space to maneuver on peace, assuming he wants it. (The Forward)

Mohammad Fadhel joins those saying Obama's visit to the region shows he's given up on the two-state solution. (Gulf News)

Osama Al Sharif agrees Obama has abandoned the Palestinians. (Jordan Times)

Former Israeli minister Ephraim Sneh says a Palestinian state is "unavoidable." (Al Monitor)

Victor Kotsev sees many encouraging signs for renewed peace efforts. (Sada)

Matt Hill says Israel is "addicted to settlements," and Obama should "stop enabling its self-destruction." (The Independent)