The Telegraph and Reuters report that early on Sunday morning Israeli aircraft struck a vehicle belonging to an individual who had been launching kites carrying firebombs from Gaza into Israel. The IDF said it was successful in shooting down 90 per cent of kites and balloons carrying firebombs over the weekend. Some 6,000 acres of land has been destroyed by fires caused by the kites in recent weeks, including 2,850 acres of nature reserve forests, the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA) reported.

BBC News Online, the Times, Guardian and Telegraph report on the war in Yemen, where a Saudi-led coalition is involved in fierce fighting with the Houthi rebels over the port city of Hodeidah. Much of the fighting is focused on the city’s airport, with the rebel forces denying claims by the Government on Saturday that they had retaken control of it. Around 5,000 of the city’s approximately 400,000 residents have now fled the fighting, as the assault entered its fifth day yesterday. Talks are at an advanced stage for the UN to take over the administration of the vital port of Hodeidah, which is under siege from a Saudi-led coalition, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator Lise Grande said yesterday.

The Guardian editorial blames the UK Government for complicity in the humanitarian crisis caused by the Yemen war because of UK arms sales to Saudi Arabia.

The Guardian reports that, ahead of the June meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec), Saudi Arabia wants to increase oil production, but several other Opec members disagree.

The Independent reports that an Amnesty International report has called Israel’s deportation of Eritrean and Sudanese asylum-seekers “cruel and unlawful”. According to the UN refugee agency, there are about 27,000 Eritrean and 7,700 Sudanese seeking asylum in Israel. Israel has an agreement with Uganda and Rwanda to deport the asylum seekers, though Uganda has denied any such agreement is in place.

Reuters reports that Israel’s economy grew faster than expected in the first quarter of 2018, at an annual rate of 4.5 per cent. The Central Bureau of Statistics put the growth down to gains in consumer spending, investment and exports.

Reuters also reports that a controversial Israeli Bill that would make filming or publishing footage of Israeli security forces “with intent to harm the morale of Israel’s soldiers or its inhabitants” a criminal offence was approved by a ministerial committee on Sunday. The bill has yet to be approved by the Knesset.

Mail Online reports that Israel has extended the administrative detention of Palestinian lawmaker Khalida Jarrar. Jarrar has been held since July 2017 under suspicion of belonging to a terrorist organisation.

In the Israeli media, Maariv and Israel Hayom reveal that Security Cabinet ministers disagree on how to handle the new phenomenon of flying firebombs.  Chief of Staff Lt Gen. Gadi Eisenkot told security cabinet ministers that Hamas was responsible for sending the kites but that it would be hard to say that every kite was liable to endanger lives. The IDF believes that directly hitting the cells will cause a major escalation in the Gaza Strip, an escalation that at this stage, Israel absolutely does not want. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman both share this view. Other ministers, such as Naftali Bennett and Gilad Erdan, have said publicly that the cells flying the kites must be attacked in the same way as if they were firing rockets at Israel.  Yediot Ahronot also continues to cover the damage caused by the flying firebombs. 1,000 turkeys yesterday suffocated to death because of fires that broke out near their coops in Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha.  Three incendiary balloons also landed in Sderot on a tree. The police ask people not to touch kites and balloons due to concern that bombs may be attached to them.

Yediot Ahronot reports the Shin Bet announcement that they uncovered an extensive Hamas terrorist network in the West Bank. The members of this network had begun amassing explosives and were planning to commit bombing attacks in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and elsewhere. They described the terrorist network that was discovered as exceptional in terms of its size and the scope of its activity. In the course of the investigation, several bombs were seized, including: a ten-kilogram bomb made of high-quality explosives that was designed to be detonated remotely with a cellular telephone; a 15-kilogram bomb; materials for manufacturing explosives; guns; and files with instructions on how to manufacture explosives and bombs.

Israel Hayom reveals that Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas has come under intense pressure from members of the Palestinian leadership and high-ranking Saudi, Egyptian, UAE and Jordanian officials to walk back his boycott of the Trump administration and to hear the administration’s peace plan. A senior Palestinian is quoted as saying: “The main message was that the Palestinian leadership first has to hear what the Trump administration is offering, and not to boycott or to reject the proposals from the outset. Abu Mazen isn’t in a position in which he can set terms, such as who do we talk to and who do we not talk to. He’ll receive the support of the Arab countries as long as his decisions are rational and strategic. The direction that Abu Mazen is leading us in is political suicide, and taking that route might be something we regret for years. We’ve already seen that Trump isn’t Obama, and the time has come for Abu Mazen to come to terms with that as well.”

Yediot Ahronot and Haaretz report on yesterday’s Ministerial Committee for Legislation that approved a bill that prevents the filming and photography of IDF soldiers. Legal experts including the Deputy Attorney General Raz Nizri said the Bill would not pass legal scrutiny.  He is quoted in Yediot Ahronot saying, “We could go for a more moderate proposal, while drawing the comparison to police officers, but the problem is that it would set a minimum for punishment.  This means there will be no choice but to have a criminal record.” Lieberman, meanwhile, welcomed the advancement of the legislation, “IDF soldiers are under attack from within by Israel haters and terror supporters who seek to humiliate, disgrace and harm them. We’ll put an end to that.”  Meretz leader Tamar Zandberg, “If the government wants to take care of IDF soldiers so much, perhaps it should start by handling the settlers who dismantle military vehicles, wound police officers and throw stones at soldiers.” The legislation will be brought to the Knesset for a preliminary reading on Wednesday.

Yediot Ahronot notes Jerusalem Affairs Minister Zeev Elkin criticised the itinerary of Prince William’s visit in Israel.  Minister Elkin took issue with the line, “in the Occupied Palestinian Territories will begin with a short briefing on the history and geography of Jerusalem’s Old City.” Elkin, said in response: “It’s regrettable that officials in Britain have chosen to politicise the Royal visit. United Jerusalem has been the capital of Israel for more than 3,000 years and no distortion in the preparatory papers for the tour are going to change that reality. I expect the Prince’s people to correct the distortion.”

Kan Radio News reports that US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman has accused ministers and MKs of ingratitude for publicly calling on Washington to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights. He was referring to, among others, Yisrael Katz and MK Yoav Kisch, both of the Likud, and to Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid, who arranged a conference on the subject in the Knesset. In closed-door meetings with MKs, Friedman said that Israeli politicians had only a domestic agenda and that they did not realise that the United States’ interests were not solely connected to the State of Israel. We did this enormous thing of recognising Jerusalem and relocating the embassy and Israel, instead of saying thank you, he wants the next thing.