The Times and i both report comments made by IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot, who suggested that the murder of a senior Hezbollah leader last year in Syria was in fact an inside job carried out by Hezbollah or Iranian superiors Hezbollah has previously insisted that Mustafa Badreddine, a senior figure in the organisation,  had been killed by an Israeli air strike. The i says that Eizenkot’s claim is the “latest sign of an escalating feud between Israel and Hezbollah”.

The i also reports that the IDF confirmed a Skylark drone came to ground in Syria earlier this week. However, it did not clarify whether the unmanned vehicle had been shot down or not.

The Guardian online reports that Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has completed a probe and found no evidence that taxpayer money was misused by World Vision Gaza. The organisation’s head was arrested on suspicion of siphoning off millions of pounds to Hamas.

Reflecting on Martin McGuiness’ death in the i, Robert Fisk looks at other “killers turned statesmen,” mentioning former-Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and former-Palestinian Authority (PA) President Yasser Arafat.

The Guardian, Telegraph and Financial Times report that the Edicule, the traditional site of Jesus’ interment at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, will re-open to the public today following its first restoration in more than 200 years. The various Christian denominations which share custody of the site came to a rare agreement over the repairs, after Israeli authorities deemed the Edicule unsafe.

The Daily Mirror notes that Britain came 19^th in the latest world happiness index, behind 11^th placed Israel.

The Independent covers a comment made by Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Khamenei, who said that gender equality is “likely among Zionist plots aiming to destroy society”.

The Telegraph online reports that rebel forces in Syria have launched another attack on government forces in the capital Damascus, after they had appeared to be repelled earlier this week.

In the Israeli media, Maariv and Haaretz continue to focus on the ongoing disagreement between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon over the establishment of a new public broadcasting corporation. Haaretz quotes a senior Likud source, saying that there will be no compromise from Netanyahu’s perspective.

Yediot Ahronot and Israel Hayom prominently cover comments made by Kahlon, who said that he does not care who will be the top executives in the new corporation. Kahlon appears to have been irked at the timing of an announcement by the corporation that Geula Even-Saar will be their evening news anchor. She is the wife of former-Likud minister Gideon Saar, considered a potential challenger to Netanyahu. Her appointment appears to have played a major role in the failure to find a resolution over the corporation.

Writing on the issue in Yediot Ahronot, Shlomo Pyoterkovsky says: “A demand needs to be presented to Netanyahu by people within the Likud: either modify your behaviour or we’ll oust you, before you inflict damage on the entire national camp.”

The lead story in Israel Hayom is Netanyahu’s insistence that Israel will continue to carry out strikes in Syria as needed. There had been suggestions that Russia, which is militarily supporting Syria’s President Assad, had told Israel to curb its actions. Israel Radio news covers Syrian reports that overnight, Israel struck targets near the capital Damascus, including radar systems.

Maariv reports that a large-scale military exercise was carried out near the Gaza Strip, involving a surprise call-up for 2,000 reservists, to test their readiness. Israeli military officials said though that the exercise had nothing to do with tensions in the area.

Israel Radio news reports that President Reuven Rivlin is on the third day of a tour of Vietnam, where he is travelling alongside a delegation of several dozen Israeli industrialists and business leaders.