BBC News report on the dispute between Israel’s Holocaust memorial centre and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the role of the Polish government during the Holocaust. Netanyahu and his Polish counterpart, Mateusz Morawiecki, had made a statement saying that Polish networks had tried to help Jews during the Nazi occupation. BBC News quotes a statement from Yad Vashem which says the Prime Minister’s statement is an “offence to historical truth” which contradicted decades of historical research and contained “grave errors and deceptions”.

BBC News Hardtalk features Jerusalem’s two-term mayor Nir Barkat, who says that he rejects the idea of a two-state solution and instead supports an unarmed Palestinian semi-autonomous system with the Israeli army firmly in charge of security and defence. He tells Hardtalk’s Stephen Sackur that there needs to be a “special arrangement” to give Arab residents autonomy.

The Telegraph reports on the violent protests at the Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar ahead of the imminent demolition of the village. Israel Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld is quoted saying 11 people were arrested in the “disturbance” on Wednesday including several for throwing stones at officers in Khan al-Ahmar. The report says that Israel agreed to resettle the residents in an area some 12 kilometers (seven miles) away, but critics argue the village’s demolition and the removal of its 180 or so residents is a ploy to clear the way for new Israeli settlements.

The Independent report on the growing condemnation by European countries over moves to demolish Khan al-Ahmar. The article leads on the news that a group of European diplomats attempted to visit a school in Khan al-Ahmar on Thursday but were blocked by Israeli authorities which declared it a military zone after protests the day before. The article also has a video showing Israeli troops dragging villagers with Palestinian flags off bulldozers and away from the site.

The Telegraph, BBC News, The Times report on new Syrian regime airstrikes in southern Syria, sending thousands more civilians fleeing towards the closed Israeli and Jordanian borders. There had been a four-day pause as the two sides negotiated, but after talks collapsed a barrage of hundreds of missiles and crude barrel bombs rained down yesterday. BBC News say that after yesterday’s intense air and artillery strikes, Jordanian mediators had persuaded Syrian rebels to resume talks. The Times quote Abu Alaa al-Hariri, a member of the Syrian opposition, who said: “Many children and women haven’t been able to find shelter and are living outdoors. There are no toilets. People are in dire straits.” 

The Times features an opinion piece by Catherine Philp and Anshel Pfeffer titled ‘Can Jared Kushner sell a peace deal without the Palestinians?’ They argue that although US President Trump’s son-in-law is about to unveil his plan to bring peace to the Middle East, it may already be undermined by the decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem.

All the Israeli newspapers focus on Yad Vashem’s criticism of the joint declaration that Prime Minister Netanyahu signed with Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki. The joint statement was issued alongside the Polish decision to repeal the clauses in Poland’s controversial Holocaust law that criminalised any statement that Poland or Poles shared responsibility for Holocaust crimes. Haaretz leads on Yad Vashem (the Holocaust memorial museum) accusing Netanyahu of signing a declaration with Poland that “distorts history”. Israel Hayom says critics see the declaration as “a betrayal of the memory of the Holocaust”. Yediot Ahronot refers to the declaration Prime Minister Netanyahu signed as “scandalous, distorted and outrageous”. They also report that Education Minister Naftali Bennett said the statement was a “lie-ridden disgrace,” adding that: “As education minister, who is charged with passing down the legacy of the Holocaust, I utterly reject it. It has no factual or historical validity and it will not be taught in the education system. Yair Lapid the leader of Yesh Atid said the statement was “a disgrace and a scandalous debasement of the memory of those who perished”.  This morning on Kan radio news sources close to Prime Minister Netanyahu rejected said the subject was closed and that it would not be discussed in the cabinet or in any other forum.

Yediot Ahronot and Israel Hayom report the Mossad operation to find Eli Cohen’s watch. Cohen was an Israeli spy who infiltrated the Syrian establishment before he was caught and executed in Syria in 1965. The papers quote his widow saying: “The watch has been in Israel for a number of months. This is exciting news God willing one day his body will be returned too.” In the annual memorial service held in his honour Mossad director Yossi Cohen presented the watch to Eli Cohen’s family.

Ynet includes an exclusive interview with Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan who confirmed that Israel is undertaking efforts to kick-start talks with Hamas to secure the release of Israeli citizens and the remains of IDF soldiers, following reports that Germany is acting a mediator between the two sides in a possible prisoner exchange deal.

This morning, Kan radio news reported the High Court of Justice issued a temporary injunction last night ordering the state that it refrain from demolishing the Bedouin village of Khan al-Ahmar, east of Jerusalem and that it must reply, by Wednesday, to the request for the injunction.

The Times of Israel reports that a senior Jordanian diplomat was among the dignitaries that greeted Prince William last week on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City against the wishes of the Israeli authorities.  On June 28, the future king undertook “private visits” to various holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City. According to a well-placed source speaking on condition of anonymity: “On the Temple Mount, Prince William was greeted by Nizar al-Qaissi, a Jordanian diplomat with the kingdom’s diplomatic mission to Ramallah. The Israeli Foreign Ministry and police were opposed to al-Qaissi’s presence and made their position known to organisers of the prince’s visit.”