The Independent and Independent i both report that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is backing the construction of the country’s first casino in the southern resort city of Eilat, but that the plan is facing widespread objections both inside the coalition and from the opposition. Critics say that Netanyahu knows the plan will not receive Knesset backing, but is nonetheless determined to show initiative in tackling Eilat’s falling tourism, which is the city’s dominant industry.

The Telegraph online includes a feature on the condition of Palestinian journalist Mohammed al-Qiq, who has been on hunger strike for more than 80 days, protesting at being held under Israeli administrative detention on suspicion of terror activity. Al-Qiq is experiencing organ failure and appears close to death in a northern Israeli hospital, leaving the Israeli government with a dilemma of whether to intervene.

The Guardian’s Giles Fraser analyses Israel’s prohibitions regarding marriage between people of different religions and different streams of Judaism, including his own wedding. The orthodox-Jewish rabbinical establishment administers Jewish marriage in Israel and does not sanction the weddings of those it regards as non-Jewish, including many from non-Orthodox Jewish communities. As Fraser reports, many couples subsequently take the short journey to marry in Cyprus, as the State of Israel recognises marriages abroad.

The fall-out from claims that anti-Semitism routinely masquerades as anti-Israel sentiment at the Oxford University Labour Club (OULC) continues. The Guardian reports that the Labour Party’s national student organisation has launched an inquiry, while the Telegraph says that the Momentum faction, affiliated with party leader Jeremy Corbyn, is partly to blame for the hostile attitudes at OULC.

The Times, Telegraph and City AM all report that the Three network is set to become the first large European mobile operator to block advertising, thanks to software developed by Israel’s Shine Technologies. Apparently, the development will be unveiled at the upcoming Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Meanwhile, the online editions of the Times and Telegraph both cover Ministry of Defence statistics, which indicate that just seven ISIS fighters have been killed in UK air strikes in Syria. The Guardian online says that the United Nations is planning its first air drops of food for tens of thousands of besieged Syrians in 18 areas during the coming few days.

In the Israeli media, the top story in Yediot Ahronot and Israel Hayom, also prominently covered by Haaretz and Maariv, is a terror attack yesterday afternoon in a supermarket at the Sha’ar Binyamin Industrial Zone in the West Bank. Two 14-year-old Palestinian boys stabbed two Israelis, killing a 21-year-old father and wounding a 35-year-old man. As highlighted by Israel Hayom, shoppers used their trolleys against the attackers to prevent further injuries, before an armed civilian shot and wounded the assailants. Israel Radio news says that questions are being asked how the terrorists evaded security checks to enter the supermarket armed.

Another major item, especially in Israel Hayom is comments made yesterday by Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon, who backed IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot, after he was criticised by some right-wing politicians for comments he made earlier this week. Without explicitly criticising the handling of terrorists by some security officers during the current wave of violence, Eizenkot said, “The IDF must not speak in catchphrases such as ‘whoever comes to slay you, slay him first,’ or state that anyone holding a knife or a pair of scissors must be killed.” Ya’alon gave his “full backing” to Eizenkot’s remarks and said “We can’t allow ourselves to become desensitised.”

Meanwhile, a Maariv poll indicates that if elections were held today, Likud would drop from 30 Knesset seats to 27, Zionist Union would be reduced from 24 to 15, while Yesh Atid would increase its share from 11 to 18 seats.