The Guardian reports that France and New Zealand are preparing to table a United Nations (UN) Security Council resolution which would set an 18-month deadline on the completion of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA). Apparently, should the deadline expire without an agreed accord, France would consequently recognise a Palestinian state.

The Independent i covers comments made yesterday by Israel’s new Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely to the country’s diplomatic corps. Hotovely said that Israel should be unashamed in saying that all of the land of Israel, including the West Bank belongs to Israel. With Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu having retained control of the foreign affairs portfolio, Hotovely effectively oversees the everyday running of the ministry.

The Independent and Independent i include a feature on the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, emphasising the warm and long-standing relations between the hotel and the many local Arabs it employs. However, it notes that some VIP guests from abroad request that all staff are vetted by Israeli security, requiring the hotel to give its local Arab staff the day off on such occasions.

In an opinion piece in the Guardian, South African-Israeli journalist Benjamin Pogrund, a former close associate of Nelson Mandela says that although there are injustices in Israel, it is most certainly not an apartheid regime. He argues that those who use the claim of apartheid to encourage boycotts of Israel invariably do so in order to unjustifiably make Israel a pariah state and bring an end not to the occupation, but “an end to Israel itself.”

The Telegraph covers an interview with US President Barack Obama in The Atlantic, in which he said that he would take responsibility in the event that Iran develops a nuclear bomb, commenting that in such a scenario “it’s my name on this.” Meanwhile, the Financial Times includes a feature on Iranian tech investors preparing to take advantage of business opportunities should sanctions on Tehran be removed.

The online editions of the Guardian and Financial Times both say that having captured the historic city of Palmyra and that ISIS now controls 50 per cent of Syria. The Times online reports that ISIS has begun public beheadings in Palmyra, while the Telegraph online claims that ISIS has already reached the city’s priceless ancient ruins. Meanwhile, the Telegraph online also says that the Pentagon has admitted that US-led air strikes probably killed two children during operations against ISIS in Syria.

In the Israeli media, the top story in Maariv, which is also covered prominently in Yediot Ahronot and Israel Radio is US President Obama’s lengthy interview with Jeffrey Goldberg in The Atlantic. While Obama emphasised his deep care for Israel and the shared values between the United States and Israel, the headlines this morning highlight Obama’s criticism of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s warning to Likud voters on election day in March that Arab citizens were voting “in droves.” Obama commented, “When something like that happens, that has foreign-policy consequences.”

Meanwhile, Haaretz and Israel Radio news both highlight that Netanyahu yesterday met with Joint Arab List head Ayman Odeh, offering to set up a formal dialogue between ministers and Arab MKs in order to form a socio-economic programme for the Arab sector.

Israel Radio news covers comments made yesterday by a senior Iranian general, who warned Israel against launching an attack on Iran and threatened that Iran is capable of destroying Tel Aviv and Haifa with the aid of 80,000 rockets belonging to Hezbollah.