• The Israeli Air Force launched several missiles into the Gaza Strip today, destroying munitions sites and a cheese factory. Only light casualties were reported. [Reuters/NYT]
• Several ex-diplomats with somewhat close ties to the Obama Administration have met with Hamas on unofficial bases. Some see this as evidence of a willingness to engage. [WSJ]
• The Israeli government thought up new steps it could take to “build confidence” to satisfy the Americans following the crisis over East Jerusalem. [JPost]
• Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad estimated Palestinian independence will come next year. [Haaretz]
• President Obama chatted up Chinese leader Hu Jintao for an hour on the phone to get him to come around on Iran sanctions. Hu still made no public commitments. [Ynet]
Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.