The Times and Independent both report that Israel is planning to grant an extra 30,000 work permits for Palestinians to work in Israel. The move is in part designed to reduce Palestinian resentment by creating more jobs and thus reducing the chances of the kind of violence which has seen near-daily attacks on Israelis since October. 55,000 West Bank Palestinians already hold work permits in Israel and tens of thousands more work there without official permission.

The Telegraph online reports that a poll indicates Palestinian support for a Third Intifada is decreasing, having dropped from 63 per cent in October, when the current wave of violence began, to 42 per cent today.

The Independent i says that the Red Cross has reopened its office in Gaza, after it was repeatedly stormed by locals demanding that the Red Cross help secure the release of a Palestinian hunger striker being held under Israeli administrative detention.

The Times, Sun and Evening Standard all report that ISIS executioner Alexanda Kotey, who grew up in West London and was part of the same circle as “Jihadi John,” participated in a 2009 mission to bring aid to Gaza, organised by former-MP and London mayoral candidate George Galloway.

The Times says that in Syria, President Assad’s forces, aided by Russian air support, are on the verge of a major breakthrough in the north of the country, cutting off the opposition stronghold in Aleppo from the Turkish border. The Guardian says that opposition forces are hoping for armed support pledged by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and United Arab Emirates. Writing in the Guardian, Ian Black writes that the chances of an Assad military victory remains distant and the possibility of a diplomatic solution is slim. A Financial Times editorial says that the impending fall of Aleppo demands that the European Union agree a common migration policy, with city residents fleeing towards the continent.

The Guardian and Daily Mail both report that attendees at this year’s Oscars will be handed a gift bag including a voucher for a ten-day luxury trip to Israel worth £38,000. Israel’s Tourism Minister Yariv Levin is quoted saying that Hollywood stars can “experience the country first hand and not through the media.”

In the Israeli media, the top story in Yediot Ahronot and Israel Hayom is the decision yesterday of the Knesset Ethics Committee to temporarily suspend Arab MKs Jamal Zahalka, Hanin Zoabi and Basel Ghattas, after they last week met Palestinian families whose relatives had recently been killed as they attacked Israelis, even holding a moment of silence in their memory. The three MKs will be permitted to vote in plenum and committee decisions, but will not be allowed to speak in either forum. The decision was supported by all Knesset factions other than the Joint Arab List.

Meanwhile, Maariv covers a Channel Two report which said that Jewish Home leader, Education Minister Naftali Bennett pressed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon during a security cabinet meeting to strike the Gaza tunnels being dug by Hamas, with the intention of using them to attack Israelis. Netanyahu and Ya’alon rejected the request and a source close to Ya’alon is quoted this morning by Israel Radio news accusing Bennett of childish and irresponsible behaviour and a willingness to drag Israel into war for political gain.

Israel Radio news also reports that the Knesset last night approved the first reading of a controversial bill, spearheaded by Jewish Home’s Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, which will require NGOs to state on all publications if they receive more than 50 per cent of their funding from foreign governments. Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid criticised the bill as ineffective while Zionist Union head Isaac Herzog said that it would cause harm to Israel internationally.