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Media Summary

Russian Foreign Minister says that multilateral talks on Syria will take place

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The Guardian online reports that Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said that multilateral talks on Syria will take place in Lausanne on Saturday between Russia, United States, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and possibly Qatar. Lavrov’s announcement comes as relations between Russia and the US and its allies continues to deteriorate over Syria. The Financial Times says that European Union diplomats are exploring the possibility of sanctions against Russia over continued air raids on the rebel-held section of Aleppo.

Writing in The Evening Standard, Patrick Cockburn says that Iran leads a Shia axis, including Hezbollah, which regards “the war in Syria as a struggle in which their very existence is at stake”.

In a Metro feature on the “wildest ski resorts in the world,” Israel’s Mount Hermon is highlighted as a recommended destination. The peak, which is snow-capped during the winter months, is situated close to where the borders of Israel, Syria and Lebanon meet.

In the Israeli media, both Yediot Ahronot and Haaretz prominently report clashes which took place in Jerusalem over the Yom Kippur holiday, which ended yesterday evening. The violence broke out in several Arab neighbourhoods in the city. In Silwan, Border Police came under rock and firebomb attack. Assessing that their lives were in danger, they responded by opening fire. A 20-year-old local was killed, who Hamas later claimed as a member.

Israel Radio news reports several other violent incidents overnight, including a firebomb thrown at the Ofrit base near Jerusalem and a soldier who was lightly wounded by stone-throwing near Beit El in the West Bank.

The top story in Yediot Ahronot, Maariv and Israel Hayom is a deadly car crash in Georgia, which involved an Israeli family on holiday, tragically killing two children. The remaining family members were flown back to Israel yesterday. Israel Hayom leads with the headline “The children who didn’t make it”.

Maariv includes interviews with three former and current senior Israeli diplomats over the possibilities of US President Barack Obama addressing the Israel-Palestinian conflict before the end of his term in office. Generally, they concur that it is unlikely Obama will encourage or permit a critical United Nations’ Security Council resolution. Former Foreign Ministry deputy director general, Gideon Meir emphasises that Obama’s position will be closely coordinated with Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

Meanwhile, Haaretz reports that the United Nations’ cultural body UNESCO is set to vote on a resolution today, which questions any Jewish connection to the Western Wall. The paper, which has obtained a copy of the resolution, says that it while it asserts that Jerusalem is holy to the three monotheistic religions: Judaism, Islam and Christianity a section dealing specifically with the Temple Mount says the site is sacred only to Muslims, failing to acknowledge its significance to Jews as well. The resolution also refers to the Temple Mount exclusively by the Arabic term Al-Haram Al-Sharif, while The Western Wall, the world’s most significant Jewish prayer site, is referred to by the Arabic term Buraq Plaza.