News:

Sec. Kerry resumes US efforts to push for Middle East peace. (AP)

FM al-Maliki says Palestinians are making amendments to their proposed UN Security Council draft resolution. (Ma'an)

Sec. Kerry tells European diplomats action on the Palestinian draft resolution should wait until after Israel's elections. (Foreign Policy)

India may drop its traditional support of Palestine at the UN. (Ha'aretz/Jerusalem Post)

Serbian-Israeli ties are flourishing, despite tensions from the 1990s. (Ha'aretz)

A Palestinian man is arrested after a foiled attack on an Israeli soldier. (AP)

Stone-throwing Palestinians injure an Israeli boy. (AP)

Egypt allows travelers from Gaza into the country for the first time since October. (Reuters/Ma'an)

Experts say delays in Gaza reconstruction could lead to more violence. (AP/Xinhua)

A senior Hamas official in Turkey says the group has no interest in another conflict with Israel. (Ha'aretz)

Bethlehem is lacking tourists this Christmas season. (The Media Line)

PM Netanyahu is receiving hefty donations from US patrons. (YNet)

Pres. el-Sisi replaces Egypt's intelligence chief. (New York Times)

Egypt arrested almost 10,000 people in 2014. (AP)

A delivery of helicopters shows US-Egypt ties are mending. (Reuters)

Tensions continue between Qatar and other GCC states. (New York Times)

Kurdish fighters push deeper into the town of Sinjar, but face stiff resistance from ISIS extremists. (AP/Reuters)

A Belgian father is searching for his son, feared to join extremists, on the Syrian border. (Christian Science Monitor)

Lebanon says it needs French fighter jets to combat Muslim extremists. (Reuters)

Lebanon's Christians take up arms in the face of threats from ISIS extremists. (The National)

As Christmas approaches, Baghdad's Christians lament empty pews. (Washington Post)l

Secular leader Beji Caid Essebsi is confirmed as winner of Tunisia's first free presidential poll. (BBC)

Commentary:

Hussein Ibish says a compromise agreement on the draft Palestinian UN text is in everyone's interests. (The National)

The New York Times says the upcoming Israeli election will likely determine the future of a two-state outcome between Israel and the Palestinians. (New York Times)

Uri Savir says the US and Europe are trying to preserve Israeli-Palestinian security cooperation. (Al Monitor)

Mariam Barghouti describes Ramallah's "mean streets." (New York Times)

Oudeh Basharat says the Israeli right is hoping to deploy a divide and conquer strategy against Arabs. (Ha'aretz)

Asmaa al-Ghoul examines why Hamas won't label ISIS a "terrorist" organization. (Al Monitor)

Shlomi Eldar describes how Hamas scored a diplomatic victory in Europe. (Al Monitor)

Zvi Bar'el says warming ties between Egypt and Qatar may cost Hamas. (Ha'aretz)

Shimon Shiffer says Israel will get the future of peace or war that it chooses. (YNet)

Jeff Barak says economy Minister Bennett's vision for the future is truly terrifying. (Jerusalem Post)

The National says it remains to be seen whether or not Tunisians have just reelected the "old guard." (The National)

Amr Moussa says Egypt’s political parties are “weak” but not ineffective. (Asharq Al Awsat)

Salman Aldossary looks at the winners and losers in the Egypt-Qatar rapprochement. (Asharq Al Awsat)

The Gulf News says the Egypt-Qatar rapprochement will help fight terror. (Gulf News)

Mostafa Hashem warns that some of Egypt's youth are starting to embrace radicalism. (Daily Star)

Manaf Al-Obaidi says Mosul is a city living in fear under the rule of ISIS extremists. (Asharq Al Awsat)

Mshari Al-Zaydi says no one wants to share a world with ISIS leader Baghdadi and other violent extremists. (Asharq Al Awsat)