News:

Israel agrees to release 26 more long-serving Palestinian prisoners as part of the US-brokered talks-resumption deal. (AP/Xinhua)

Palestinians are reportedly taking a tough stance on land swaps in the talks with Israel. (Times of Israel)

Israeli experts say security cooperation with the PA has never been stronger. (The Media Line)

Jordan reiterates its support for Palestinians in negotiations with Israel. (Xinhua)

Israel says militants in Gaza fired two rockets into southern Israel. (AP)

Israel retaliates with airstrikes against northern Gaza. (Ma'an/Xinhua)

Israeli forces detain 15 Hamas affiliates in Nablus. (Ma'an)

Palestinians say a man suspected of killing an Israeli soldier has been severely tortured in Israeli detention. (Ma'an)

Israel's military chief says he thinks cyber attacks are the most dangerous threat to the country, as an Israeli tunnel is hacked and shut down. (AP)

Former UK FM Jack Straw says Jewish influence in the US is the most powerful obstacle to peace. (Times of Israel/Jerusalem Post)

Israel will resume cooperation with the United Nations Human Rights Council. (Xinhua)

Egypt's smuggling tunnel closures "costs Gaza $230 million monthly." (AFP)

Egypt closes the Gaza crossing indefinitely. (Jerusalem Post)

Lack of raw materials and other shortages are bringing the Gaza economy to a standstill. (Xinhua/Reuters)

The PA says it plans to plant 750,000 olive trees to compensate for settler attacks. (Ma'an)

This year's olive harvest in Gaza near the border is continuing despite Israeli threats. (Al Monitor)

Another wave of car bombings killed at least 41 in Shiite neighborhoods of Baghdad, bringing theweekend total to 66 dead. (New York Times/AP/Washington Post)

Three Egyptian police officers are shot north of Cairo. (AP/Reuters)

Fears of violent anti-government extremism in Egypt are growing. (Reuters)

Egypt's new government expresses appreciation for UAE support. (Xinhua)

Israel appoints a new ambassador to Egypt. (Times of Israel)

Sexual assault victims in Egypt face a long road to justice. (BBC)

The number of estimated Syrian refugees in Lebanon reaches 800,000. (Xinhua)

Palestinian refugees in Lebanon demand better healthcare. (The Daily Star)

Palestinian iconography is being revived in Bethlehem. (PNN)

Commentary:

Sec. Kerry says Pres. Assad is using starvation as a weapon of war in Syria. (Foreign Policy)

Yossi Verter says by opposing Palestinian prisoner release, Naftali Bennett is making a clear bid for the leadership of the Israeli right. (Ha'aretz)

Eitan Haber says Bennett's party's rhetorical attacks against Israel's negotiator Livni could lead to her assassination. (YNet)

Emily Hauser asks why Israelis are so tone deaf about incitement against Palestinians. (Daily Beast/Open Zion)

Yossi Klein Halevi describes how an Israeli paratrooper became a violent Jewish extremist. (The Forward)

The CSM interviews Uri Avnery, who wonders if Israel will still exist in 90 years. (Christian Science Monitor)

Ha'aretz says it's important that Israel resumes participation in the UN Human Rights Council. (Ha'aretz)

Nigel Cameron says the US should stop boycotting and defunding UNESCO to spite the Palestinians. (The Guardian)

Aryeh Eldad says boycott movements won't do anything to stop settlements. (Ha'aretz)

Kobi Niv says a society with racism at its core, Israel, cannot be sincerely or successfully antiracist. (Ha'aretz)

Nabeel Kassis says Palestinians should not recognize Israel as a "Jewish state." (Al Monitor)

The NYT interviews NSA Rice on the Obama Administration's Middle East policies. (New York Times)

Jackson Diehl says Pres. Obama's Middle East policies are based on fantasy and wishful thinking. (Washington Post)

Marwan Bishara says many Arabs fear a US-Iranian rapprochement. (New York Times)

Raghida Dergham says the US has adopted an isolationist foreign policy of appeasement and avoidance. (Al Hayat)

Abdullah Al Shayji says America's Gulf allies are losing trust in the US. (Gulf News)

Joshua Haber says the rift between Cairo and Washington is deepening. (Al Monitor)

Stephen Walt says the US shouldn't worry if Saudi Arabia and Israel are upset with its policies. (Foreign Policy)

The LA Times says the Saudi women driving ban protest is about more than just cars. (Los Angeles Times)

The Forward "video-profiles" Palestinian-American comedienne Maysoon Zayid. (The Forward)

Hussein Ibish says Syria and Hizbollah have hollowed out the Lebanese state, which is facing its biggest crisis since the civil war. (The National)

Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed says it's ridiculous to see the Syrian conflict as a way of getting Hezbollah and Al Qaeda to destroy each other. (Asharq Al- Awsat)