News:

Sec. Kerry is returning to the region for more work on peace talks. (The Guardian)

Israel is preparing to release 26 long-serving Palestinian prisoners. (AP)

The EU again warns Israel about a planned wave of new settlement construction. (Ha'aretz/Times of Israel)

Israel's chief negotiator Livni says settlement construction hurts peace prospects. (Xinhua)

Livni also again warns lack of peace threatens Israel's economy and other interests. (YNet)

Israeli left-wingers also slam settlement construction. (Xinhua)

Rumors continue to spread of a trade-off between Palestinian recognition of Israel's Jewish character for Israel's recognition of the 1967 borders as the basis for peace. (Times of Israel)

An Israeli ministerial committee approves pending legislation to annex the Jordan Valley. (Xinhua)

PM Netanyahu urges Likud MKs to vote against the proposed bill. (Ha'aretz)

Palestinians say any such annexation would "kill peace." (Xinhua/Ma'an)

Israeli occupation forces arrest nine Palestinians in the West Bank on Sunday. (Ma'an)

The PLO urges Hamas to sever its ties with the Muslim Brotherhood. (Ma'an)

Russian experts confirm their earlier reports that the late Pres. Arafat died of natural causes. (PNN)

A Fatah official urges Palestinians to choose "smart resistance" in 2014. (Ma'an)

The UN is seeking access to Palestinians in Syria after 15 die of hunger. (Reuters/AFP)

There is an exchange of rocket fire over the Israeli-Lebanese border. (New York Times)

American Jewish student groups are testing the limits of "permissible" discourse on Israel. (New York Times)

Low turnout at the funeral for a moderate Lebanese leader recently assassinated showsebbing national morale. (New York Times)

Saudi Arabia pledges $3 billion to beef up the Lebanese military. (AP)

Lebanese forces fire on Syrian aircraft violating Lebanese airspace. (AP)

Syria appears behind schedule in the effort to decommission its chemical weapons. (New York Times)

14 are killed in bombings and shootings in Iraq on Sunday. (AP)

Bahrain says it has foiled smuggling and terrorist plots. (Reuters)

Saudi Arabia is strengthening its ties with France and other non-American allies. (AP)

Sources say Egypt is likely to hold presidential elections before parliamentary ones. (Reuters)

Egyptian Christians live lives of increasing fear. (BBC)

The CSM profiles the Gulen movement, whose break with PM Erdogan has sparked a political crisis in Turkey. (Christian Science Monitor)

Maverick journalists in Gaza are aiming to shake up Palestinian media. (The Media Line)

Commentary:

Ha'aretz says it is the Palestinians, not Israel, that lack a real peace partner. (Ha'aretz)

Hassan Barari says Netanyahu's settlement policies are a key hurdle in peace talks. (Arab News)

Amer Al Sabaileh looks at Jordan's role in any potential peace agreement. (Jordan Times)

J.J. Goldberg asks if Netanyahu is abandoning his posture as a peace-seeker altogether. (The Forward)

John Whitbeck critiques Israel's demands Palestinians recognize it as a "Jewish state." (Jordan Times)

Amira Hass describes the systematic harassment of Palestinian villagers by Israeli settlers and troops alike. (Ha'aretz)

Janne Louise Andersen surveys the past year in Palestinian hip-hop. (Al Monitor)

Theodore Bikel says Israel must develop the Negev desert for all its citizens, Jewish and Arab. (JTA)

David Horovitz interviews former Israeli ambassador Michael Oren. (Times of Israel)

Felice Friedson interviews new Labor Party leader Herzog. (The Media Line)

Amos Harel says Israel faces dangerous new strategic realities. (Ha'aretz)

Yoel Guzansky says there's a real basis for increased Israeli-Saudi cooperation. (Jerusalem Post)

Kristian Coates Ulrichsen says US-Iranian nuclear talks might be a game changer in US-Israeli relations, but Munira Fakhro thinks otherwise. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Jeremy Bowen says the deepening Sunni-Shiite split bodes ill for the Arab world. (BBC)

Kim Ghattas says the recent assassination of a moderate Lebanese politician shows the country is being dragged into the Syrian conflict. (BBC)

Rami Khouri says the Chatah assassination shows no parts of Lebanon are off-limits in the brewing conflict. (The Daily Star)

Mohamed Abdel Salam says universities are Egypt's new battleground. (The Daily Star)

Oussama Romdhani looks at Tunisia's political transition plan. (Al Monitor)

Hanin Ghaddar says Qatari foreign policy is now at a crossroads. (NOW)

Asharq Al-Awsat interviews Houthi Movement spokesman Ali Al-Bakhiti on the rebellion in Yemen. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Hussein Ibish looks at the resurgence of Al Qaeda in the Syrian war and elsewhere. (NOW)

Samir Salha says the Gülen-Erdoğan split is now a no holds barred confrontation. (Asharq Al-Awsat)