The Financial Times reports that the stakeholders in Israel’s Leviathan off-shore natural gas field have reached an export deal with Egypt worth £6.6 billion over the next 10 to 15 years. The deal would end some of the uncertainty surrounding Israel’s natural gas industry, with regulatory issues having recently held up progress.

The Independent i says that Israel’s High Court has ruled in favour of a transgender woman who wished to be cremated, despite the objections of her ultra-Orthodox family on religious grounds.

The Metro includes a picture of the moment 83-year-old Rita Berkowitz won the Holocaust survivor beauty pageant in the northern Israeli city of Haifa.

Elsewhere in the region, the Independent, Daily Mail and Independent i all report that the Russian pilot who survived Turkey’s controversial shooting down of his fighter jet on Tuesday, has said that he did not receive any warning from Turkish forces to alter course. Meanwhile, the Times online reports that Russia has used cluster bombs near a refugee camp on the Turkish border. The online editions of the Times and Telegraph both say that ISIS has used prisoners to dig a network of tunnels near the Syrian town of Sinjar, to protect against a potential assault from Kurdish forces.

The Guardian online reports that the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby has described UK armed action in Syria as “almost inevitable.”

The Times says that due to the renewal of diplomatic relations with Iran, the UK could end up returning torture victims to Iran who have not been granted asylum in Britain. Meanwhile, the Telegraph online covers comments made on television by Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, who said that the United States is using money and sex to infiltrate Iranian decision-making.

In the Israeli media, Yediot Ahronot, Maariv, Haaretz and Israel Hayom all report that the IDF apparently recommended to the government that certain concessions be granted to the Palestinians to help quell the current violence. Their recommendations included handing more weapons to the Palestinian Authority (PA), easing the passage of goods between the PA and Israel and releasing some Palestinians imprisoned for minor offences. However, both Israel Hayom and Israel Radio news emphasise that the government has apparently rejected these recommendations and made clear that gestures will only be made when the violence subsides. Commenting in Maariv, Yossi Melman says “the gap between the political echelon and the security echelon that is subordinate to it has never been larger when it comes to understanding the situation between Israel and Palestine.”

However, the top story this morning in Yediot Ahronot, Maariv, Haaretz and Israel Hayom is the questioning for several hours yesterday of a senior police commander over sexual harassment allegations dating back five years. In the last two years, the senior ranks of Israel’s Police force has been plagued by scandal, with eight senior officers leaving, half due to sexual offences.

Meanwhile, Yediot Ahronot says that police have begun investigating an allegation by a former employee that Jewish Home MK Yinon Magal sexually harassed her. Magal yesterday stepped down as faction chairman and apologised for his “inappropriate” actions. Israel Radio news says that Zionist Union MK Stav Shaffir announced that she will boycott any parliamentary initiative or speech by Magal and Likud MK Oren Hazan who earlier this mocked the disability of Yesh Atid’s wheelchair-bound MK Karin Elharar.