The Telegraph, BBC News Online, the Times, and the Guardian report that forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have captured half of  Eastern Ghouta – the last rebel-held enclave close to the Syrian capital Damascus. “Regime forces control more than 50 per cent of Ghouta,” Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP news agency. Aerial bombing killed at least 20 people as troops and tanks advanced. The pocket – one of the rebels’ last remaining strongholds – is now close to being sliced in half, leaving thousands on the western side cut off from the east. The campaign has so far led to 800 civilians deaths.

The Guardian, BBC News Online, the Times, Channel 4 News, Metro, the Independent, and the Daily Mail report on the visit of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to the UK. British Prime Minister Theresa May has raised concerns about human rights in Saudi Arabia during talks with the country’s crown prince. The visit began amid protests against his country’s role in the war in Yemen. May said ties with Saudi Arabia had saved hundreds of UK lives but she had urged full access for humanitarian aid in Yemen and a political solution. The Crown Prince has already had lunch with the Queen and Duke of York, and is due to have dinner with the Prince of Wales and Duke of Cambridge. The UK hopes to capitalise on Saudi plans to open up and diversify its economy by agreeing up to £65bn in mutual trade and investment opportunities over the next 10 years as well as a significant role for the UK in advising on the modernisation of the Saudi schools system. The Independent reports on the protests ensuing from the visit as well as how the Saudi media is covering the visit and the flotation of Saudi Aramco on the London Stock Exchange. The Times and BBC News Online also reports that Jeremy Corbyn has accused the government of colluding in war crimes committed by Saudi forces in Yemen in an intervention which prompted a furious response from Downing Street. Corbyn told the House of Commons: “A humanitarian disaster is now taking place in Yemen. Millions face starvation and 600,000 children have cholera because of the Saudi-led bombing campaign and the blockade. Germany has suspended arms sales to Saudi Arabia, but British arms sales have increased sharply and British military advisers are directing the war. It cannot be right that the government is colluding in what the United Nations says is evidence of war crimes.”

BBC News Online, the Telegraph, the Daily Mail, Huffpost UK the Daily Express and the Sun report that Labour has launched an investigation into claims party members posted antisemitic comments on a closed Facebook group dedicated to Palestinian rights. An antisemitism group said evidence gathered by the blogger David Collier suggested Jeremy Corbyn was said to be among members of “Palestine Live” until just before he became leader in 2015. Labour said there was no suggestion Corbyn had written any antisemitic posts. The Labour leader was unaware of the alleged comments, the spokesman added. Exchanges by members of the closed Facebook group were said to have included discussions of conspiracy myths about the Rothschild family and supposed Israeli involvement in the 9/11 terrorist attacks, as well as links to material produced by neo-Nazi groups.

The Daily Mail via AFP reports that a Jerusalem court on Wednesday ordered house arrest for Malka Leifer, the woman sought by Australia over accusations of sexually abusing schoolgirls under her care there, a court transcript said. The magistrates court ruled that Leifer should be released from the closed psychiatric ward where she has been held for the past week but delayed implementation of the order for 48 hours to allow prosecutors seeking her extradition to appeal.

The Daily Mail via AP reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that Israel may face early elections due to a coalition crisis. Speaking at the Economic Club in Washington on Wednesday , Netanyahu said that he wants his Government to complete its term until November 2019. He said “If all parties in this coalition … agree that’s what we do, and if not then we will go to elections now.” Israeli Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon has said his Kulanu party will leave the coalition if the budget does not pass in the next few weeks. Coalition partners are feuding over whether to include military draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Jews.

Haaretz reports statements by PM Netanyahu that if the coalition partners do not commit to staying until 2019 – when elections are due to take place, Israel will hold elections now. Israel Hayom publishes a poll by Maagar Mohotthat claims Likud would gain 34 seats, Yesh Atid 24 and Zionist Union 10 if elections were called. It further states that ultra-Orthodox party Shas’s situation has continued to deteriorate and it currently fails to pass the electoral threshold. The poll was conducted among 517 respondents who constitute a representative cross-section of adult Israeli society and has a 4.3% margin of error.

Maariv reports that a compromise is being put together on the conscription Bill and coalition members have said they will stop any attempt by Netanyahu to force elections in June. Maariv also reports that opposition Chairman Issac Herzog held talks yesterday about forming an alternative coalition without Netanyahu as Prime Minister. According to that report, Herzog said that none of Netanyahu’s coalition partners are “willing to die with Netanyahu”. He said that he believed that was a sufficiently solid foundation that could be used to replace Netanyahu in the current Knesset, forming what he described as a “national healing government,” which would avert the need for new elections.

Yediot Ahronot reports that former media advisor to  Netanyahu Nir Hefetz gave statements against two Likud Ministers in his testimony. Ma’ariv reports that Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit approved the state witness agreement with Nir Hefetz after listening to recordings from the investigation. The very lenient State’s witness agreement with Hefetz was delayed by a few days until the Attorney General became convinced that Hefetz possessed very weighty evidence, including correspondence and recordings.

Israel Hayom and Kan Radio News report comments made by Netanyahu about the investigations. In a post on social media yesterday, Netanyahu heavily criticised police for recruiting such a large number of state’s witness, adding that they were only needed in the absence of hard evidence, and the large number of state’s witnesses who have been recruited pointed to the lack of such evidence to support the allegations against him.

Kan Radio News reports that in a speech given at the umbrella organization of Jewish organizations in France, CRIF, French President Emmanuel Macron said that his country would recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and Palestine at some point in the peace process in what he called a balanced diplomatic game.

Alex Fishman in Yediot Ahronot writes that the Israeli Defemce Force is bracing for a new wave of violent demonstrations and provocations in the Gaza Strip that are expected to gradually intensify in advance of Nakba Day on May 14, which is also the date on which the United States is scheduled to inaugurate its new embassy in Jerusalem. Hamas plans to place tent encampments along the border with Israel in the coming weeks.

Israel Hayom and the Times of Israel report that Air India will begin flying over Saudi Arabian airspace on its way to Tel Aviv.