The Financial Times, The Telegraph, The Times and Reuters report that Saudi air defences intercepted Houthi missiles over Riyadh and a city on the Yemeni border, leaving two civilians wounded in the capital, state media said yesterday.

The Times reports that Binyamin Netanyahu is expected to inaugurate his new government this week after Benny Gantz, his main rival, agreed to join him in a “national-emergency” coalition.

The Times reports that the top American general in Iraq, General Robert White, is resisting a Pentagon plan for a surge in attacks on pro-Iran Shia militias in the country, which General White warns may be “bloody and self-defeating” and risk a full-scale war.

The Telegraph and Reuters report that diplomatic appeals by Iran for relief from US sanctions to help it fight the coronavirus pandemic may offer an opportunity for the release of dual nationals jailed by the regime, such as Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, campaigners have suggested. The Independent reports that Zaghari-Ratcliffe has had her temporary leave from prison in Iran extended by two weeks, her husband has revealed. Sky News reports that Richard Ratcliffe says Iran’s decision to extend her leave and consider her for clemency “feels like baby steps…towards freedom”.

The Guardian reports that Saudi Arabia appears to be exploiting weaknesses in the global mobile telecoms network to track its citizens as they travel around the US, according to a whistleblower who has shown the Guardian millions of alleged secret tracking requests.

The Times reports that rising numbers of Iranians are using a sanctions-busting scheme to buy property in Turkey and claim citizenship, chiefly using a network of money transfer offices in Istanbul.

The Associated Press reports that Hamas is preparing for mass quarantine by building two new facilities, hoping to prevent the disease from spreading and overwhelming Gaza’s already shattered health system.

Reuters reports that Saudi Arabian Airlines will begin exceptional commercial flights this week to bring British nationals and their families back to the United Kingdom, and similar flights are being arranged for US citizens to return home, both countries said.

The Associated Press reports that Jordan has begun releasing thousands of travellers who were quarantined for the last two weeks at five-star hotels on the Dead Sea on Monday in order to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus.

Reuters reports that Syria’s health ministry said on Sunday that a woman who died after being rushed to hospital for emergency treatment was found to have been infected by coronavirus in the country’s first officially reported death from the disease. Reuters reports that Shi’ite pilgrims returning to Iraq from Syria have tested positive for coronavirus, raising concern that pilgrim travel could be a source for a larger spread of the disease around the country, a senior Iraqi official and health officials said on Sunday.

In the Financial Times, Antoine Halff argues that from a game theory perspective, the Saudi-Russia oil price war is a “masterstroke”, asserting the sell-off has hit high-cost competitors whilst US shale can no longer be a free-rider.

In The Independent, Bel Trew writes that Israeli demolitions and police raids in East Jerusalem are ‘threatening public health’ as coronavirus cases soar, showing Arab citizens and Palestinians cannot abide by Israeli lockdown rules when their houses are demolished.

In the Financial Times, Greek foreign minister Nikos Dendias argues that Turkey’s refugee ‘extortion diplomacy’ must now end, arguing Ankara is continuing to use migrants as pawns in an attempt to blackmail the EU into monetary concessions.

In The Guardian, Agnieszka Pikulicka-Wilczewska writes that coronavirus is looming over the fragile Afghan health system, as western NGOs and the US have reduced aid support whilst many Afghans have returned from Iran in recent weeks.

The Israeli media reports that 4,347 Israelis have tested positive for coronavirus, 15 have died and 80 are in a serious condition, of whom 59 are on ventilators. One Israeli tourist died in Italy. In the West Bank, 100 cases have been diagnosed and a woman in her 60s has died. One of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s advisers, Rivka Paluch, tested positive for coronavirus and is in isolation. Sources at the Prime Minister’s Office said they are following Health Ministry guidelines, which may require Netanyahu to go into isolation.

Yediot Ahronot reports the sharp rise in the number of people on ventilators amid concerns of a shortage. The paper maps out where all the ventilators are, highlighting a “great disparity between the centre and the periphery” According to Health Ministry Director General Moshe Bar Siman Tov the healthcare system has 2,864 available ventilators, including those in the IDF. The rise in the number of patients needing ventilators has the medical establishment very worried, and one scenario is that 5,000 people will need artificial respiration within a few weeks. As of last night, 59 coronavirus patients were on ventilators compared to yesterday morning when the number was 43, a rise of 37 per cent in only 12 hours. The paper also reveals that the Mossad arranged for the shipment of 30 ventilators, ten million surgical masks and 25,000 N95 masks to Israel on a special flight last night. It also brought thousands of protective suits for emergency workers who perform the coronavirus tests.

According to Haaretz, the Attorney General and the Justice Ministry prevented the deployment of soldiers to enforce coronavirus-related emergency regulations on Sunday, insisting that it be passed as a cabinet resolution first. The deployment of 650 Israel Defence Forces soldiers to help with policing was approved last week by Prime Minister Netanyahu and Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, together with Chief of Staff Aviv Kochavi and the Defence Ministry. Channel 12 News reported that if the soldiers are deployed, they would be unarmed.

All the media note growing concern that the spread of the virus is higher in ultra-Orthodox neighbourhoods. Israeli TV showed hundreds of people gathered for the burial of Rabbi Tzvi Shenkar, with thousands reportedly attending a funeral procession. Footage showed hundreds gathering in close proximity to one another, breaking social-distancing rules. Ultra-Orthodox patients are reported to comprise half of coronavirus patients in major hospitals around the country, while they only represent 10 percent of the total population. According to Israel Hayom the government is considering placing the ultra-Orthodox city of Bnei Brak under quarantine, because its residents are defying curfew orders and fear that the coronavirus outbreak could spiral out of control in the densely populated locality, where the infection rate is higher than the national average.