The Guardian and Independent report that senior figures at the UN agency for Palestinian refugees have been accused of serious ethical abuses. “Credible and corroborated” allegations were made in a confidential internal ethics report by and about the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). The review included accusations of “nepotism, retaliation, discrimination and other abuses of authority, for personal gain, to suppress legitimate dissent, and to otherwise achieve their personal objectives”. The UNRWA Commissioner General Pierre Krähenbühl is accused of appointing as an adviser a woman with whom he was romantically involved.

BBC News and Reuters report that the US Senate has failed to block the sale of £6.5bn worth of arms to Saudi Arabia. In Monday’s first vote, five Republicans voted to override the President, siding with the Democrats 45-40. Two further votes had similar margins. It comes after President Donald Trump used his presidential veto to override resolutions passed by both chambers of Congress preventing the sale. Trump had argued that blocking the sale of weapons would “weaken America’s global competitiveness” and that it could damage relations with US allies.

Reuters reports that Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has called on Iran to follow international rules and release the UK-flagged tanker seized by its forces in the strait of Hormuz. “If the Iranians want to come of the dark and be accepted as a responsible member of the intentional community they need to adhere to rules-based system of the international community,” Raab told Sky News. “You cannot go about detaining unlawfully foreign vessels.” The Guardian reports that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard has released an audio recording of its seizure of the UK-flagged tanker. The clip is of a radio exchange in which a patrol boat officer tells HMS Montrose to back off while the Iranians seized the Stena Impero. The audio clip begins with an officer directly addressing the Montrose: “British warship Foxtrot 236, this is Sepah navy patrol boat: you are required not to interfere in this issue.” BBC Radio 4’s Today programme included an interview with the Indian captain of the Grace 1 tanker seized by Royal Marines off the straits of Gibraltar. He complained of the ‘brute force’ used to take the vessel and said he felt the ship was part of a political game between Iran and the UK.

Reuters reports that Iranian Vice President Eshaq Jahangiri has claimed that Iran’s foreign policy is to confront American hegemony and protect multilateralism. Jahangiri added that its reduction of commitments under the JCPOA could be reversed if other parties upheld their side of the agreement. “The foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran is to protect multilateralism and confront American hegemony,” Jahangiri said.

BBC News reports that an interim report by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons suggests that chlorine may have been used in a suspected chemical attack on the Syrian town of Douma in April 2019. The report said “various chlorinated organic chemicals” had been found (in samples taken from two locations), but there was no evidence of nerve agents. The Syrian government denies carrying out any chemical weapons attacks.

Reuters reports that US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has stated that President Donald Trump wants forces reduced in Afghanistan by the 2020 presidential election. Trump’s South Asia strategy, unveiled in August 2017, called for an open-ended deployment of US forces with the goal of compelling the Taliban to negotiate peace with the Kabul government to end the 18 year war.

Reuters reports that Syrian rebel commanders and rights groups have accused Russia and Syrian of stepping up aerial strikes on heavily populated cities. A sustained week-long aerial attack on cities in southern Idlib province has caused the most civilian casualties since Russian jets joined the Syrian army on 26 April in the offensive to recapture the enclave. “This is the heaviest bombing and loss of life since the start of the campaign,” said Fadel Abdul Ghany, chairman of the Syrian Network for Human Rights (SNHR).

The Guardian reports that EOS Defence Systems has maintained that none of its products have been used in Yemen. Chief executive Ben Greene defended the company against suggestions its equipment had been used in human rights violations. Greene said equipment sent to Saudi Arabia and the UAE was only a demonstration unit ahead of future sales. Last week it was revealed the Australian government had approved the export of Australian weapons systems to both countries.

Reuters reports that an attack on a market killed at least 10 civilians including children in Yemen’s northern Saada province, a medical source and the warring parties who blamed each other said.

The Financial Times reports that a close friend of Donald Trump collaborated with the Wall Street groups Apollo and Blackstone on a plan to use Middle Eastern money to buy the nuclear reactor maker Westinghouse. According to a report by the US House of Representatives oversight committee, Tom Barrack planned to use money from Saudi Arabia and the UAE to buy the company, while securing “enough US ownership to bypass scrutiny” from an official body charged with reviewing foreign investments.

Reuters reports that protests have broken out in Bahrain after the execution of two Shi’ite Muslim activists on terrorism-related charges. Police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of demonstrators in Bilad al-Qadeem suburb where one protester died from gas inhalation on Saturday, four activists said.

The Telegraph reports that a group of Israeli teenagers say they plan to sue a British woman who allegedly falsely accused them of gang-raping her and chanted “the Brit is a whore” upon returning to Israel. The 19-year-old British woman was arrested by Cypriot police and appeared in court on Monday.

The Independent reports that Iranian women who post photos of themselves online without their headscarves on could be sentenced to 10 years in prison. They face the punishment for posting images or video online, and for sending them to Masih Alinejad, a US-based activist who founded the “White Wednesdays” campaign in Iran to oppose the compulsory hijab. The campaign encourages women to post photos of themselves without headscarves.

The Israeli media reports the details of the merger agreement between the New Right, Jewish Home and National Union. Yedioth Ahronot reports that their leader, Ayelet Shaked said: “This is wonderful news for the right wing bloc,” and pledged: “I am now headed for further mergers. I intend to continue the efforts to unite Otzma Yehudit and Zehut [with us].” Rafi Peretz said: “This union is one that won’t blur our path. We will continue to raise our banners, and will raise them proudly and support boldly.” After it was agreed that Shaked would become leader, Peretz still demanded they Netanyahu for prime minister. Itamar Ben Gvir of Jewish Power commented on the merger last night: “What was presented is not a large-scale right wing union, it is a kind of diminished Jewish Home in its old format. You can’t take our votes and push us to the back.”

Anshel Pfeffer in Haaretz argues that on the eve of the coming election, Israel’s politics is contracting, bracing itself for a cathartic event. Lieberman’s decision two months ago not to join Netanyahu’s coalition, triggering 2019’s second election, has set a train of events in motion. Not one of the polls conducted in the last five weeks has given Netanyahu a chance of forming a right-wing/religious coalition without Lieberman. If that is indeed the outcome on September 17, it will be a cathartic moment for Israeli politics — after which any possible permutation of endorsements to the president, and the most bizarre coalition frameworks, are possible. The parties are contracting, uniting and maximizing their options in preparation for that moment.

Yediot Ahronot reports that Jewish Home leader Rafi Peretz wasn’t eager to sign a merger agreement and seemed inclined to run independently of Shaked and Bennett. Peretz’s position was impacted by Prime Minister Netanyahu’s efforts behind the scenes to influence the merger negotiations. The sources said that Netanyahu not only tried to scuttle the merger, but also tried to prevent a situation in which Shaked might serve as the leader of the joint list. According to reports, Sara Netanyahu also discussed the leadership issue with Jewish Home leader Rafi Peretz’s wife, Michal, who was opposed to her husband conceding first place on the list. When asked to comment, the Likud issued a statement denying the allegations. Associates of Peretz said that the fact that Peretz was prepared to concede the list’s leadership to Shaked proved how committed he was to the merger.

Yossi Verter in Haaretz critiques Netanyahu’s behaviour over the merger on the right, writing that Netanyahu: “Could have had a restrained, downsized and loyal Ayelet Shaked on the list of top ten Likud Knesset candidates. But now she’s back, and in a big way, leading a right-wing union that may have the power to dethrone him… Instead of acting according to his and his party’s best political interests, as suggested to him privately and publicly by lawmakers in his party, Netanyahu was dragged by emotions and vengefulness. Last night he got his comeuppance: Shaked, who begged to be incorporated into Likud and was turned down, and who was fired by Netanyahu from her post as Justice Minister, along with Education Minister Naftali Bennett, is back, and in a big way. Meanwhile, he’s far from reaching that goal. His aim of garnering 61 seats without Avigdor Lieberman’s Yisrael Beiteinu party now looks virtually impossible to attain. Barring an extraordinary development in the next 50 days, the chances a unity government without the ultra-Orthodox, the religious-Zionists and the Kahanists seem quite realistic.”

Shlomo Pyuterkovsky in Yediot Ahronot also writes: “The problem will probably not lie in the start of the campaign; the great difficulty will lie in the ability to withstand the blitz being planned by Netanyahu, as always, in the last lap. This has been given the mild Yiddish name, “gewalt campaign”. Shaked will have to lead the unified right wing in the pre-election period. If Shaked proves equal to the task, she will be an example of a political miracle. From banishment to the political desert in the past elections to the national league of the country’s political leadership within just a few months. The power is in her hands, and the entire burden of proof lies on her shoulders.”

Maariv reports Labour Party leader Amir Peretz is preparing for the Labour Party Convention’s vote to approve the party’s merger with Gesher. Meanwhile, it has begun strip party membership from activists who spoke out in support of a large merger on the left. Brig. Gen. (res.) Asaf Agmon received a letter yesterday informing him that he was being stripped of his Labour Party membership after he publicly spoke out in support of the Democratic Union and called on members of his caucus to support a merger between the Democratic Union and the Labour Party. Agmon received a letter from Labour Party Secretary General Eran Hermoni that read: “I hereby inform you about the termination of your membership in the Labour Party because of your support for another party in the 22^nd Knesset elections, as mandated by the party charter. You are entitled to appeal my announcement within 30 days to the appeals institution.”

Kan Radio reports on angry responses by settler leaders to a plan by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to approve Palestinian construction in Area C. Yesha Council Chairman Hananel Dorani said that “Instead of fighting against the illegal construction that is rampant in Area C, with the encouragement of the Palestinian Authority, the prime minister has introduced to the security cabinet the possibility of capitulation to that phenomenon – to legalise the illegal construction, and perhaps even to approve further construction.” Dorani said it was unthinkable to make construction in the Israeli settlements in Area C contingent upon construction for the Palestinians.

Yediot Ahronot explains that in the past four years the security cabinet hasn’t approved any significant Palestinian construction. Alternatively, the Civil Administration’s Planning and Construction Committee has approved the construction of thousands of housing units in settlements over the years. For example, the construction of 3,103 new housing units was approved in 2017, and 3,155 new housing units were approved in 2018. What has now changed? In the past few years the Trump administration has been pressing Israel to advance construction for Palestinians in Area C. The American peace team headed by Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt is expected to arrive in Israel in the next few days as part of a broader tour of the Middle East, and it seems that the security cabinet meeting was called to approve the plan prior to the Americans’ arrival. One assessment that was aired is that Netanyahu inserted into the plan approval for construction in the settlements so as to offset opposition to Palestinian construction that, predictably enough, drew furious reactions from settlers.