The Financial Times and BBC News report that the US is pulling troops from three of its eight Iraqi military bases, including its base at al-Qaim, in a sign that the US is looking to dramatically reduce its military footprint in the country.

The Times reports that there is credible evidence that British airstrikes in Iraq and Syria have killed multiple civilians, the official US-led military coalition against ISIS said. The Guardian reports that Britain’s five-year air war against ISIS has quietly come to an end, with official figures revealing no bombs have been dropped since September – yet the MoD still acknowledges only one civilian casualty in the entire conflict.

The Times, BBC News, The Independent and Reuters report that Benny Gantz promised yesterday to form a national unity government that was “as broad as possible” after being formally mandated to form an administration.

The Independent reports that Israel’s intelligence service will use phone-tracking technology long used to fight terrorism to track coronavirus patients and those they were in contact with, some of the most aggressive regulations rolled out in the region to combat the spread of the deadly disease. Reuters reports that Israel’s government will invoke emergency regulations to speed up the deployment of cyber monitoring, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday.

The Financial Times reports that Saudi Aramco’s chief executive doubled down on the kingdom’s commitment to raise production in a price war with Russia and other oil nations, saying the state energy giant can sustain maximum levels of output without any additional capital spending. Reuters reports that oil prices fell below $30 a barrel on Monday after the worldwide coronavirus outbreak worsened over the weekend, exacerbating fears that government lockdowns to contain the spread of the disease would spark a global recession.

Associated Press reports that hard-line Shiite faithful in Iran pushed their way into the courtyards of two major shrines just closed over fears of the new coronavirus, Iranian state media reported Tuesday, as the Islamic Republic pressed on with its struggle to control the Middle East’s worst outbreak. Sky News reports that Iran has temporarily freed about 85,000 prisoners to combat the spread of coronavirus, a judiciary spokesman in the country has said.

Reuters reports that Turkey has identified 93 suspects who have made “unfounded and provocative” postings on social media about the coronavirus outbreak and has detained 19 of them, the Turkish Interior Ministry said.

The Guardian reports that embattled lender Metro Bank has been hit with a fresh lawsuit by a group of Iranian customers who say their accounts were unfairly suspended without notice or explanation.

In the Associated Press, Jon Gambrell assesses why Iran has failed to stop its coronavirus outbreak, asserting the Islamic Republic has an opportunity to limit the virus as the Persian New Year, Nowruz, approaches.

In The Independent, Bel Trew argues that protecting vulnerable refugee populations from coronavirus must be a priority across the region, as an outbreak will be impossible to halt in refugee camps with poor sanitation.

The Palestinian media report there are now 39 cases of coronavirus in the Palestinian Territories. 2 known cases in Tulkarem, with the rest in the Bethlehem district which remains under full closure. There are no identified cases in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military announced yesterday that it would not be imposing a full closure on the West Bank and will continue allowing Palestinian labourers and merchants deemed crucial for the Israeli economy (healthcare, agriculture, nursing, construction) to enter Israel. The new stipulation requires Palestinians to sleep inside Israel for 1 to 2 months with arrangements supervised by their employers. The Erez crossing between Israel and Gaza has been effectively shut since last week.

Sarit Rosenblum, Yediot Aharonot’s medical affairs correspondent, writes about Israel’s coronavirus response: “As is always the case with Netanyahu, we need to discern between the actual reality and the fake reality. His repeated, mantra-like assertions in his recent public statement to calm the public, reporting about the successes that Israel supposedly has chalked up in its fight against the virus have been deceitful. The only reason that the number of diagnosed cases of the coronavirus in Israel is still relatively low is technical: the virus was detected in Israel later than in other countries, and the number of tests that have been done is small. According to Health Ministry assessments, several thousand Israelis are actually infected with the coronavirus.”

All the Israeli media report the government’s approval of a controversial mobile phone tracking tool, originally used to counter terrorist activity, that will enable authorities to monitor quarantined citizens and geolocate all those they came into contact with going back two weeks. The digital tool has been developed by Israel’s internal security service, Shin Bet. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced last night that the government had approved the use of the tool under “state of emergency” measures, despite the lack of any Knesset approval or oversight. Gabi Ashkenazi (Blue and White), who heads the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, called the approval of the measure a “hijacking” and demanded that the committee be convened immediately to provide oversight.