The Times covers a report from Israel’s Channel Two which suggests that Hamas is digging six miles of tunnels in Gaza each month. The network of tunnels was a major feature of Operation Protective Edge two years ago and was used to both shield Hamas’s leadership and to attack Israeli targets beyond the Gaza border. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing allegations that his government was ill-prepared for the tunnel threat, a charge which he vehemently denies. A State Comptroller report into the decision-making process before and during the conflict is expected to be published in the coming weeks.

The Guardian includes a feature on a Gaza restaurant owner, who has a vision for the city to become a tourism and hospitality hot spot. His restaurant attracts numerous middle-class Palestinians and he has plans to open a beach-side hotel.

Writing in the Times, Ben Macintyre mulls how the government should tackle next year’s centenary anniversary of the Balfour Declaration. The seminal 1917 document enshrined British support for a Jewish national home in the land of Israel. He describes the anniversary as a “diplomatic minefield” for Britain, but suggests that the document be “neither eulogised nor bemoaned but dispassionately explored, analysed and understood” in its proper historic context.

The Times also notes that the Israel Museum is to display the country’s only ancient Egyptian mummy, which is thought to be around 2,200 years old. The mummy shows signs that the deceased suffered from tooth decay and osteoporosis.

In Syria, the online editions of the Times and Financial Times, and the Independent reports that the al-Nusra Front has formally split from al-Qaeda, a move al-Nusra likely hopes will deflect US-led air strikes. The Times online says that Washington believes al-Qaeda is relocating its veteran leaders to Syria from Iraq, in preparation for the collapse of both the al-Assad government and ISIS. The Guardian online reports that the US has confirmed that a recent air strike it carried out on the town of Manjib resulted in civilian casualties, with some groups putting the total at 28 dead. Meanwhile, the online edition of the Telegraph and the Independent reports that safe corridors are being established in Aleppo for residents to escape a siege by al-Assad’s troops.

In the Israeli media, the headlines are again dominated by speculation over the upcoming State Comptroller report on Operation Protective Edge. Maariv says that State Comptroller Yosef Shapira has warned that if the cabinet attempts to classify the report and shield it from the public domain, he will likely push for a full state commission of inquiry. The families of soldiers killed in the conflict have recently increased calls for such an inquiry. However, Israel Hayom says that Prime Minister Netanyahu is in favour of publishing the State Comptroller’s report in full. Israel Radio reports both versions of the story.

Meanwhile, the Walla news agency reports that Netanyahu held a meeting with his security cabinet in order to review the recommendations of the Shamgar Committee on rules governing future hostage negotiations. The article speculates that Netanyahu is looking to share responsibility ahead of possible future talks with Hamas over returning the bodies of two Israeli soldiers killed in Operation Protective Edge and two Israelis who wandered across the border and are thought to be alive and well in Hamas’s hands.

Israel Radio news says that US Secretary of State John Kerry will meet Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas in Paris tomorrow, in order to discuss efforts to promote the two-state solution.