The Telegraph online reports that in the wake of Palestinian terror attacks this week, which killed one Israeli woman and injured another in West Bank settlements, Israeli authorities have temporarily banned Palestinians from working within the settlements. The ban is being reviewed on a daily basis. The stabbings this week are the latest in near-daily attacks on Israelis since October, which have killed at least 27 people.

The online editions of the Guardian and Financial Times cover a spat between US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro and Israel’s government. Shapiro suggested this week at a conference that there “seems to be two standards to the rule of law” in the West Bank, “one for Israelis and another for Palestinians.” Both articles note that Shapiro met yesterday with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to smooth over the issue, but that a former-Netanyahu advisor Aviv Bushinsky used a derogatory term on television to describe Shapiro.

The Metro says that Israel could appropriate 370 acres of land in the Jordan Valley area of the West Bank, a move which critics say will “hurt peace plans.”

The Daily Mail covers a violent protest by pro-Palestinian demonstrators, which disrupted a talk at King’s College in London by former-Shin Bet chief Ami Ayalon.

The Guardian online covers a report by the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which says that Russian air strikes in Syria since September have killed more than 1,000 civilians. In a separate report, the Guardian online says that US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov are confident that Syrian peace talks scheduled for next week in Geneva will take place on time.

The Times reports that Iran’s government has proposed a new budget to parliament, which includes a significant increase in funds towards Iran’s armed forces and intelligence services, including a 15.2 per cent boost to the Revolutionary Guards. The article suggests that the enlarged budget could be used to fund terror groups.

There are widespread tributes and obituaries to Lord Weidenfeld, who died yesterday aged 96. His passing is covered in the Telegraph, Financial Times, Guardian, Times, Independent, Daily Mail, Independent i, Daily Express and Evening Standard. The publishing giant and philanthropist was also well known for his connections to and support for Israel and once served as Chief of Staff to Israel’s first President Chaim Weizmann.

In the Israeli media, the top story which dominates the first several pages of Israel Hayom is the decision yesterday by Israel’s Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein to close the long-running criminal case against former-IDF Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi. He was investigated for obstructing justice in what was known as the ‘Harpaz Affair’ which centred on a forged document among the highest military echelons, exposing poor relations between Ashkenazi and then Defence Minister Ehud Barak. Weinstein’s decision paves the way for Ashkenazi to launch a much anticipated political career. He is thought to have been courted by both Zionist Union and Yesh Atid to lend significant security credentials to their parties.

Meanwhile, a lead item in Haaretz is the suggestion that the Palestinian Authority (PA) leadership will push for a United Nations Security Council resolution, which will explicitly condemn Israeli West Bank settlements, declare them illegal under international law and an obstacle to peace. Apparently, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will discuss the issue at the Davos Economic Forum with US Vice President Joe Biden and US Secretary of State John Kerry.

Yediot Ahronot covers comments by Yaakov Amidror, former head of Israel’s National Security Council, who said that Russian weapons have found their way into the hands of Hezbollah via Syria, including “Moscow’s most advanced.”