Israeli Ambassador to the UK, Mark Regev was interviewed on the BBC Today Programme this morning. The ambassador was asked about Israel’s blockade of Gaza, and its impact on healthcare and prosperity for Palestinians living there. Regev was also questioned about Israeli tactics to deter protests at the Gaza border with Israel, use of live fire against people trying to break through the border fence as well as the Israeli government stance on Hezbollah and the northern Lebanon border and US President Donald Trump’s announced withdrawal of US troops from Syria.

The BBC reports that the Lebanese army says it has arrested a US citizen suspected of entering Lebanon illegally through a hole in the border fence with Israel. The official National News Agency cited the army’s directorate of intelligence saying its officers were questioning the man, whom it named as Colin Emery. He was found “hiding in one of the alleys in the city of Tyre”, it added. Hezbollah posted what it said was a photo of him at a clothes shop where he was arrested. Another photo apparently showed a ripped pair of trousers the man was wearing. The US Embassy said in a statement: “We’ve seen media reports of the arrest of a US citizen. We take our obligation to assist US citizens abroad seriously and stand ready to provide all appropriate consular services.” On Wednesday, the Israeli and Lebanese armies both said they were searching for a man who was believed to have crossed from Israel into Lebanon by climbing through a hole in the border fence the previous day.

The Guardian reports that Israel has accused the Malaysian Prime Minister, Mahathir Mohamad, of “rabid antisemitism” after he banned Israeli athletes from competing in a qualifying event for the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics. Malaysia has refused to grant visas to Israeli athletes scheduled to participate in the event to be held in the state of Sarawak in July, a move designed to demonstrate the country’s solidarity with Palestine. On Wednesday, the Malaysian Foreign Minister, Saifuddin Abdullah, confirmed the cabinet had decided Malaysia “Will not host any more events involving Israel or its representatives. This is to me, a decision to reflect the government’s firm stance over the Israeli issue.” The decision prompted condemnation from the Israeli Foreign Ministry, with spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon calling the ban “shameful” and saying it “totally opposes the Olympic spirit. Israel condemns the decision inspired no doubt by Malaysia’s PM Mahathir’s rabid antisemitism.” He called on the International Paralympic Committee to force Malaysia to reverse the decision or to move the event to another country.

The Times reports that a prominent Syrian opposition activist in Hamburg has been killed with an axe in what is suspected to have been a politically motivated attack. Mohamed Joune, 48, a wealthy pharmacist, led an organisation called the Union of Syrians Overseas. He was seen stumbling out of a building before collapsing in the street, bleeding profusely from a head wound. Paramedics took him to hospital but he died shortly afterwards. Investigators found that he had suffered blunt force trauma to his head and upper body, as well as cuts suggesting an axe was used, according to Bild, the German tabloid. The attacker also cut off Mr Joune’s fingers, leaving a trail of blood down the stairs of the building as he tried to escape the blows. Police have yet to identify a suspect but a pile of clothing and shoes found in a bin near the crime scene are being investigated, according to local reports.

The Telegraph reports that a journalist working for the largest Dutch financial newspaper has been deported from Turkey on suspicion of “links to terrorism”, the latest to be ousted from the country accused of stifling press freedom. Johanna “Ans” Boersma, who worked for Het Financieele Dagblad and other news outlets, said she was detained while submitting documents at an immigration office to extend her Turkish residence permit. The 31-year-old said she was told to leave the country over “security reasons” and reportedly told she not allowed to return to her home in Istanbul to collect her things. A Turkish government official confirmed Ms Boersma’s deportation but said it was “not related to her journalistic activities or her reporting from Turkey.” “The Turkish authorities have recently received intelligence from the Dutch police that Ms Boersma had links to a designated terrorist organisation and a request for information about her movements in and out of Turkey,” read a statement released by Fahrettin Altun, communications director of the Turkish presidency.

The Independent reports that Israel’s former army chief, Benny Gantz, has launched a long-awaited political platform after weeks of feverish speculation pushed him to second favourite in the polls. Benny Gantz, 59, whose political opinions are virtually unknown, revealed his party’s campaign on Thursday under the slogan “Israel before all” in a khaki colour scheme. The elections wild card only set up his Israel Resilience Party late last month and has kept silent about whether it would be supporting Israel’s powerful and ruling right or whether he would join the left. Despite this, the paratrooper, who served as Chief-of-Staff between 2011 and 2015, has already gathered a lot of support and his party is just second to incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s in a new poll released this week. On Thursday Lt. Gen. (ret.) Gantz posted his first ever campaign video, inviting his followers on social media to join him for change. “I put Israel before everything. Join me and we will take a new path together. Because it should be different, it can be different and we will make it different,” he said. He ended the clip with a joke about his silence saying “I think I’ve spoken too much’”.

Katerina Delacoura writes in the Financial Times, arguing that “an ideological struggle will shape Islamism in the Middle East”, a region “riven by a clash between a top-down and bottom-up vision for states”.

Reuters reports that New York Knicks player Enes Kanter has urged US President Donald Trump to be more vocal about human rights in Turkey, after prosecutors in Istanbul requested the basketball player’s arrest and extradition over his ties to a US -based cleric. The 26-year-old centre has been an outspoken critic of Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and his human rights record. He was indicted by a Turkish court last year on charges of belonging to an armed terrorist group, which he denies. Istanbul’s state prosecutor has sought an Interpol “red notice” to detain the basketball player and requested his extradition, a spokesman for the prosecutor’s office said on Thursday. Interpol declined to comment. Kanter describes himself as a close ally of US -based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen, wanted in Turkey on suspicion of orchestrating a failed coup in 2016. Gulen denies the accusation.

The Independent reports that a British MP has warned Saudi Arabia risks stirring revolution unless it introduces reforms and allows greater freedom of expression. Crispin Blunt, a Conservative MP and chair of a parliamentary panel on detained Saudi women activists, urged the Saudi government to recognise that a civil society “is a necessary part of a political system that is meant to be a consultative monarchy. The alternative to a consultative monarchy is an absolute monarchy and down that route lies disaster and eventually revolution.”

The Israeli media extensively report on Efi Naveh and judicial appointments. Naveh is the former chairman of the Israel Bar Association who is suspected of promoting judicial appointments in exchange for sexual favours. Naveh stepped down from his post yesterday, while being questioned by the police. His lawyer claims that the evidence had been obtained from his mobile phone in an unlawful manner and was therefore inadmissible. Haaretz reports that the State Attorney’s Office granted Army Radio correspondent Hadas Steiff immunity from prosecution in exchange for turning over an old mobile phone of Efi Naveh’s that she obtained. Kan radio reports that the police questioned Naveh for ten hours yesterday. In Yediot Ahronot, Nahum Barnea writes that the investigation should focus on two issues, the nature of Naveh’s actions and the second the question of “how much harm did Naveh cause to the justice system during his term of office; can at least part of the damage be repaired, and what lessons can be learned from what happened.” Barnea says appointments made at Naveh’s initiative and with the opposition of the Supreme Court judges should be examined and calls the alliance forged between Naveh and Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked “an unholy alliance.” Maariv publish a poll about the story in which 69 per cent of respondents said that the Naveh affair had undermined their confidence in the justice system, versus twenty per cent who said it had not. Fifty-five per cent of respondents said that they had low confidence in the justice system, whereas thirty nine per cent said that they had high confidence.

Yediot Ahronot  reports that Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit refused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request to delay a decision whether or not to indict Netanyahu on corruption charges until after the election. The Attorney General said he would meet Netanyahu’s lawyer to discuss the process but would not discuss any of the substance of the investigations.

Haaretz reports that three current Labor MKs, Ayelet Nahmias-Verbin, Hilik Bar and Eitan Broshi have announced they will not run for reelection in the Labor party primary for the 9 April general election. Nahmias-Verbin represented her party last year at the UK Labour party conference, while Bar was the co-chair of Knesset Britain-Israel friendship committee. The paper also reports that the two ultra-Orthodox parties, Agudat Yisrael and Degel Hatorah, have decided to maintain their partnership and run together on a joint list as United Torah Judaism. According to Kan radio Labor Party Chairman Avi Gabbay would like to place a former senior security establishment official in one of the two slots he has in the first ten places on the list of Knesset candidates. Gabbay said he was very interested in recruiting former Shin Bet director Yuval Diskin, who is considered a harsh critic of the Prime Minister. However, Diskin is not keen to enter politics at this time. Yediot Ahronot suggests that Moshe Yaaalon is close to joining Benny Gantz and that the pair are in “advanced negotiations” to run together and may make an announcement soon.

Yediot Ahronot reports that the Lebanese military have detained an American man suspected of entering Lebanon from Israel through a hole in the security fence earlier in the week. The man has been identified as Colin Emery Doyle, and he was being questioned by intelligence officers of the Lebanese Armed Forces, under the supervision of a judge. There are conflicting reports about his mental health. The United States Embassy in Beirut said it was aware of the reports and would provide Doyle with “all consular services possible.”

Channel 14 reports that an Israeli student was killed in a brutal attack in Australia while she was on the phone Facetiming with her sister back in Israel.  The body of 21-year-old Aiia Maasarwe was found early on Wednesday morning near the campus of the Melbourne University where she was studying. Maasarwe was from the Israeli-Arab town of Baqa al-Gharbiya. This morning a man was arrested, but it’s not clear if he is a suspect in the murder.