The Financial Times, Guardian, BBC and Reuters report on US President Donald Trump’s warning that he would inflict economic devastation on Turkey if it were to attack American-backed Kurdish forces in Syria. The Financial Times reports that in a pair of tweets on Sunday night, the US President said he was beginning the “long overdue” pull out from Syria but would continue to target the remnants of ISIS in the region. He then added: “Will devastate Turkey economically if they hit Kurds”. Reuters reports that Turkey’s presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin said Trump should respect Washington’s alliance with Ankara. “Mr @realDonaldTrump It is a fatal mistake to equate Syrian Kurds with the PKK, which is on the US terrorists list, and its Syria branch PYD/YPG,” Kalin wrote on Twitter. “Terrorists can’t be your partners & allies. Turkey expects the US to honour our strategic partnership and doesn’t want it to be shadowed by terrorist propaganda,” he said on Monday.

The Times and Reuters report that the White House’s national security team asked the Pentagon to provide it with options for striking Iran after a group of militants aligned with Tehran fired mortars into an area in Baghdad that is home to the US Embassy. The Times reports that John Bolton, the national security adviser, called a series of meetings after the attack — which one of Tehran’s proxy militias in Iraq claimed responsibility for — and is believed to have asked the Pentagon to draw up options for bombing Iran. A second attack by an unknown group two days later targeted the US consulate in Basra. There were no injuries or damage in either incident. Unnamed US officials told The Wall Street Journal that Bolton’s hawkish response to the September attack “rattled” the Pentagon and State Department. Before he took office in April Bolton was known for his fiery anti-Iran rhetoric, including calling for regime change. His request was not followed through.

The Guardian and Telegraph report that Houthi rebels in Yemen have threatened to launch more drone attacks after a deadly strike last week on a Yemeni government military parade killed seven people, stoking tension between the warring parties and threatening UN efforts to broker peace. The Guardian reports that Houthi spokesman Yahya Sarea said Thursday’s drone strike on a military base in Lahaj province, which killed several people, was “legitimate operation against aggression”. He said the rebels were building a stockpile of locally manufactured drones. “Soon there will be enough in the strategic stockpile to launch more than one drone operation in multiple battle fronts at the same time,” Sarea told reporters in the Houthi-held capital, Sana’a, on Sunday. The Houthi statement came as Britain said it was pressing ahead in seeking an enhanced mandate for a UN mission to oversee a ceasefire in the port city region of Hodeidah, despite claims by the Saudi-backed Yemeni Government that the Houthis were not implementing the agreements struck between the parties in talks in Stockholm last month. In a further development, Houthi negotiators boycotted a meeting of the UN’s ceasefire monitoring body, the Redeployment Coordination Committee, on Sunday, saying the UN special envoy was using the committee to pursue other agendas.

The Times reports that extremists linked to al-Qaeda have taken control of almost all of Syria’s last rebel-held province, bringing a fragile ceasefire deal to breaking point and threatening to ignite a devastating new battle. In the past nine days Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) has seized almost all the territory that was held by Turkey-backed rebels in Idlib. The province abuts the Turkish border and is virtually surrounded by President Bashar Assad’s forces. Residents fear that the takeover could prompt Russia and the regime to launch a scorched-earth offensive on Idlib of the kind that has broken deadlocks in other areas of Syria but also razed whole towns and killed thousands of civilians.

Reuters reports that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Sunday that a rift between Qatar and its Gulf Arab neighbours had gone on for too long and was threatening regional unity needed to counter Iran. “When we have a common challenge, disputes between countries with shared objectives are never helpful,” said Pompeo, who is on a tour of the Middle East.

The Guardian includes a letter calling for the release of jailed Emirati human rights activist Ahmed Mansoor. The letter comes as the spotlight falls on authors planning to attend this year’s Emirates Airline festival of literature in Dubai, tickets for which went on sale at the weekend. The letter, signed by Stephen Fry and others including PEN and the authors Amanda Craig, Jonathan Emmett, James Mayhew and Nicola Davies, calls for the immediate and unconditional release of Mansoor, who was jailed for posts on Facebook and Twitter.

The BBC reports that Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, jailed for five years in Iran in 2016 after being convicted of spying, which she denies, is due to begin a three-day hunger strike in protest against being denied specialist medical care. Her husband, Richard Ratcliffe, said prison officials have refused to let her see a doctor to examine lumps in her breast and other health issues. He said it was hoped the hunger strike would get them to take her “seriously”. Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has praised her bravery and criticised Iran for “allowing an innocent mother to feel she needs to resort to a hunger strike”.

Reuters reports that Iran’s nuclear chief said on Sunday that the country is taking preliminary steps to design its own process to enrich uranium up to 20 per cent for its nuclear reactor in Tehran, instead of having to copy foreign designs. Iran’s 2015 nuclear accord with world powers caps the level to which Iran is able to enrich uranium to 3.67 per cent purity, well below the 20 per cent it was reaching before the deal, and the roughly 90 per cent that is weapons-grade. Iran is, however, allowed to produce nuclear fuel under strict conditions that need to be approved by a working group set up by the signatories to the deal. Those conditions include ensuring that the fuel cannot be converted to uranium hexafluoride, the feedstock for centrifuges that enrich uranium.“We have made such progress in nuclear science and industry that, instead of reverse-engineering and the use of designs by others, we can design new fuel ourselves,” state broadcaster IRIB quoted Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, as saying.

The Independent reports that violent clashes between hundreds of Arab Christians and police erupted in Haifa on Friday after a protest over a piece of art showing a crucified Ronald McDonald titled “McJesus”. Authorities said three police officers needed medical treatment after being wounded in the head – with protesters hurling stones after being blocked from breaking into the Haifa Museum of Art to remove the artwork.  The work – which has been on display in Haifa for months as part of an exhibition called “Sacred Goods” – was created by Finnish artist Jani Leinon. Footage from the protest showed the police using tear gas and stun grenades to clear the demonstrators. The demonstration came after a firebomb was thrown at the museum on Thursday.

Reuters reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, on Sunday, acknowledged Israel’s weekend attack on what he called an Iranian arms cache in Syria, and said it had also completed a hunt for cross-border tunnels dug by Tehran-allied Lebanese Hezbollah fighters. “We have been taking action with impressive success to arrest Iran’s military entrenchment in Syria,” Netanyahu told his Cabinet in televised remarks. He said this entailed “hundreds” of attacks over the past several years of Syria’s civil war, in which Iran and Hezbollah have backed Damascus against rebels and Islamist insurgents. Last week, Israeli minister Tzachi Hanegbi told a local TV station there had been “more than 220” Israeli operations against Iranian targets in Syria. Confirming a Friday night sortie in Syria, Netanyahu said Israel’s air force had “struck Iran’s warehouses, containing Iranian arms, in Damascus international airport”.

Yedioth Ahronoth, Maariv and Haaretz report on IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Gadi Eisenkot’s pre-retirement interviews. Eizenkot told Kan Radio he has not seen any intention by any of Israel’s enemies to undertake offensive action against Israel due to the strength projected by the IDF. Eisenkot said that more than 400 missiles were fired at Israel Air Force planes flying over Syria in the last few years. He said Israel’s freedom of action in Syria had become more complex after President Bashar Assad’s military and proxy forces regained control of most of the country and added that this difficulty would only increase.

The papers discuss the end of Israel’s ambiguity policy over airstrikes in Syria after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday publicly assumed responsibility for the air strike in Syria on Friday night. Maariv reports that members of the opposition lambasted Netanyahu for publicly exposing Israel’s responsibility for the attack in Syria “for election propaganda purposes,” and accused him of an egregious violation of the censorship laws.

Yediot Ahronoth’s military affairs commentator, Alex Fishman said: “Israel abandoned its policy of ambiguity with respect to its military activity against the Iranians and Hezbollah in Syria. That decision means one thing — it raises the risk of an escalation on the northern front, possibly risking even a full-scale war. It is possible that there isn’t any reason anymore for ambiguity, since Israel informs the Russians of every attack. Despite their anger over the damage that has been done to their Syrian clients, the Russians have not yet taken any aggressive action to stop Israel. Israel’s decision to abandon its policy of ambiguity paints the Russians into a corner as well.” Amos Harel in Haaretz writes: “It might indeed be time for Israel to stop pretending about the attacks in Syria. But the backdrop – the end of Eisenkot’s tenure, and more importantly, the beginning of a tumultuous election campaign – raises doubts whether the considerations behind the new approach are purely germane.”

Yoav Limor in Israel Hayom reviews the challenges facing Eisenkot’s successor Aviv Kochavi. “As it was for his predecessors, Hezbollah will be Kochavi’s main headache as well since it is Israel’s principal military threat. Specifically at issue are Hezbollah’s precision-guided missile programme and any additional ‘surprises’ that Hezbollah might be preparing for Israel in the next war.” Limor adds that “Kochavi will have to do some complicated juggling. He will have to take military action against Hezbollah while ensuring that that activity doesn’t cross the line and lead to war. The same is true for Hamas in Gaza—the sector that appears to be more volatile because of the difficult humanitarian situation there.”

Yediot Ahronoth reports that Operation Northern Shield was completed yesterday with the discovery of the sixth and last offensive tunnel that was dug from the Lebanese village Rama into Israeli territory near Moshav Zarit. The tunnel was 800 meters long and 55 meters deep. It was two meters high and one meter in length, and was fitted with stairs, electricity and conveyer-belts for removing debris.

Haaretz reports on talks between Hatnua leader Tzipi Livni and Yes Atid leader Yair Lapid about a possible merger. The report says the two parties are holding serious talks on running a joint ticket in the election. On Sunday, Yediot Ahronot reported that Lapid announced he would not join a Netanyahu-led government if Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit decides to indict him for corruption and bribery, even before Netanyahu has been given a hearing. Also on Sunday Israel Hayom reported that some Labor Party activists have said that they would now consider leaving the party for the Israel Resilience Party under Benny Gantz or Hatnua.

Haaretz reports on US President Donald Trump warning Turkey not to conduct an offensive against Kurdish troops in northern Syria. He said that the US “will devastate Turkey economically if they hit Kurds”. Erdogan’s spokesman Ibrahim Kalin tweeted back at the American president: “Mr @realDonaldTrump It is a fatal mistake to equate Syrian Kurds with the PKK, which is on the US terrorists list, and its Syria branch PYD/YPG. Terrorists can’t be your partners & allies. Turkey expects the U.S. to honour our strategic partnership and doesn’t want it to be shadowed by terrorist propaganda.”

Yediot Ahronoth reports that Lebanese journalist, Jerry Maher, who is known for his hostility towards Hezbollah, reports that its leader Hassan Nasrallah has cancer and has been hospitalised in Beirut after suffering a heart attack. Maher operates out of Malmo, Sweden, and is known for his close ties with Western intelligence officials. Al-Kalima, an Iranian website that is associated with Mir Hossein Mousavi, an Iranian opposition figure who has been under house arrest for six years, reports that Nasrallah has been secretly hospitalised in Shiraz, Iran, whilst being treated for cancer. According to the report, Nasrallah has held meetings with the top Iranian military and political officials. The website was forced to take down the article after a few hours, offering no explanation for that decision.

Maariv reports that Energy and Infrastructure Minister Yuval Steinitz (Likud) is attending a first-ever regional Natural Gas Forum in Egypt. Energy ministers from Greece, Cyprus and Jordan and representatives from Italy and the Palestinian Authority will also be attending.