BBC News, the Guardian, Telegraph, Independent, Financial Times and Reuters report that the US military will send an additional 1,000 troops to the Middle East following the Gulf of Oman incident. Acting Defence Secretary Patrick Shanahan said the deployment was in response to what he described as “hostile behaviour” by Iranian forces. In his statement, he said that the US  “does not seek conflict with Iran” but the action was taken to “ensure the safety and welfare of our military personnel working throughout the region to protect our national interests”. The Guardian reports that the US Navy has also released more photographs to support its claims that Iran was responsible for the Gulf of Oman incident.

BBC News, the Guardian, Telegraph, Independent and Financial Times report that Iran has announced it will breach the limit on its stockpile of enriched uranium that was set under the JCPOA on 27 June. Its atomic energy agency said it had quadrupled production of the material, which is used to make reactor fuel and potentially nuclear weapons. But it added there was “still time” for European countries to act by protecting Iran from reinstated US sanctions. The UK, France and Germany have urged restraint and warned Iran not to violate the JCPOA. They have previously said they will have to re-impose their own sanctions, which were lifted in return for limits on the Iranian nuclear programme.

Reuters reports that the US will not invite Israeli government officials to the June 25-26 Bahrain conference devoted to gaining support for a Palestinian economic plan to keep the event ‘apolitical’. Palestinian business representatives are expected to attend the event, but not Palestinian government officials. As a result, the Trump administration has decided not to extend an invitation to Israeli government officials to the conference.

Reuters reports that head of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit has warned that attempts to solve the Israel-Palestinian conflict will be in vain without the establishment of a Palestinian state on all territories occupied by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war. His comments appeared directed at a still unpublished peace plan that US President Donald Trump has dubbed the “deal of the century”.

The Independent reports that EU foreign ministers are unconvinced by US allegations that Iran was behind the Gulf of Oman incident, as they arrived at a meeting on Monday. There was strong support among EU countries for an independent UN investigation and calls for more evidence – with the UK isolated in its support for the Trump administration’s line. One foreign minister invoked the spectre of US misuse of intelligence over Iraq as a reason for scepticism.

Reuters reports that Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned that the world should not open a “Pandora’s Box” in the Middle East, as he denounced US pressure on Iran and called on Iran not to drop out of the JCPOA. Wang told reporters that China was “of course, very concerned” about the situation in the Gulf and with Iran, and called on all sides to ease tension.

Reuters reports that Iran accused Saudi Arabia of adopting a “militaristic, crisis-based approach” for accusing Tehran of orchestrating the Gulf of Oman incident. On Sunday, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman urged the international community to take a “decisive stand” over the attacks – but said the kingdom did not want a war in the region.

In the Guardian, Michael H Fuchs argues that the Iran debate in Washington is increasingly divorced from reality: ‘We need to wake up from the fever dream and have a real debate about Iran, develop a real strategy for Iran, and start a real dialogue with Iran’.

In the Telegraph, Raf Sanchez warns that the spate of Iranian attacks on oil ships in the Gulf of Oman should raise concerns regarding a return to the “Tanker Wars” of the 1980s.

The Financial Times reports that the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has signalled an ambition to reclaim its position as one of the oil-rich Gulf region’s most acquisitive investors. The QIA is ramping up its investment plans in North America and Asia, and creating a unit to look for opportunities in emerging markets in Latin America, Africa and Asia in an effort to snap up stakes in companies directly.

Reuters reports that Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem has stated that Syria does not want to see fighting with Turkey, after Turkey said one of its posts in Syria’s Idlib region was attacked from an area controlled by Syrian government forces. “We hope that our military and the Turkish military do not fight. This is our principled stance,” al-Moualem told reporters in Beijing, standing alongside Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Kan Radio reports that the White House is not inviting Israeli officials to the Bahrain workshop in order for it to be apolitical. A senior US administration official said that only business people had been invited from Israel. The Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem said the decision was coordinated between Israel and the US. Palestinian sources say Palestinian Finance Minister Shukri Bishara had been invited to attend the conference, but has yet to announce whether or not he will. Maariv writes that the decision not to invite Israel “is a feather in Palestinian Authority Chairman Abu Mazen’s cap. Abu Mazen has been trying to sabotage the summit due to his distrust in the US administration as an honest broker.” It adds: “The decision is also a blow to the White House and to Israel, who had hoped to have Israel and Arab countries presenting a united front irrespective of the peace process with the Palestinians — a hope that has been dashed for the time being.” The paper adds that the decision not to invite Israel may have been a precondition that was imposed by Jordan, Morocco and Egypt, all of which came under heavy pressure from the Trump administration to attend the conference, despite the Palestinians’ request from Arab countries not to attend.  

Zvi Barel in Haaretz discusses the recent Iranian threat to increase uranium enrichment. “Iran knows that doing so would be considered a significant violation of the nuclear deal, one that would force even Europe, Russia and China to treat it as a violator, with all the attendant negative implications. At the same time, Iran has refrained from saying it intends to quit the deal. Its public announcement of its planned violation indicates that for now, it’s mainly trying to force the European Union to take steps to persuade Tehran to remain in the deal. If Iran carries out its threat, the next diplomatic effort may be in the UN Security Council, where Washington would likely encounter Russian and Chinese vetoes. European countries also seem unlikely to support an aggressive resolution against Iran, since America violated the agreement first, by withdrawing from it in May 2018.”

Yediot Ahronoth, Maariv, Haaretz and Israel Hayom all report a case involving the alleged rape of a seven-year-old girl. An indictment was filed yesterday at the Ofer Military Court against Nazmi Abed el-Hamid Kattousa, 46, a Palestinian from Deir Qaddis near Ramallah. His family and lawyer insist that he was not involved in the act and that he is being framed. The indictment was filed after a police investigation, which included collecting evidence against the accused, who worked as a janitor at a Haredi girl’s school in the Binyamin region in the West Bank. The police charged him with kidnapping, attacking and raping a seven-year-old girl under egregious circumstances. The incident occurred about three months ago and was only now cleared for publication. The investigation was complex and the police learned that he had been employed in cleaning and maintenance, had become acquainted with the girl at the school, and had developed a relationship with her by talking to her from time to time and by giving her candy. The indictment indicates that in a polygraph test undergone by the accused during the investigation, he was found to be lying, which bolstered the police’s suspicion that he was the one who had assaulted the little girl. Kan Radio reports that Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said the incident should also be investigated as a possible nationalistic attack. He said there was no doubt that the accused and those who helped him had absorbed the hate and incitement that they been fed by the Palestinian Authority day in and day out. A source close to the investigation said that there were difficulties with the case, and it was based mainly on the testimony of the seven-year-old girl. Some of the difficulties stem from the fact that the girl’s parents filed the complaint with the police only about a month after the alleged rape.

Yediot Ahronoth reports Prime Minister Netanyahu yesterday appointed Rafi Peretz and Bezalel Smotrich of the United Right party as education minister and transport minister respectively. A statement issued by Likud said that the “parties agreed to fully preserve the status quo on matters of religion and state, as has been the norm in Israel for many years”. Peretz said in interview that he had no intention of discriminating against any pupil. “I’ve come to be the education minister of all Israeli pupils … I value every pupil regardless of ethnicity, orientation, nationality or race. My view is that grades aren’t everything. I’ll place more emphasis on values and less on grades. Attentiveness, effort, investment and willingness are more important than grades. IQ isn’t everything in life.” Smotrich said that he would not object to public works on the Sabbath, as he had in the past, saying: “We’ll maintain the status quo. I don’t intend to change anything and I don’t intend on setting any fires or stepping on any landmines.” The paper adds that while both men spoke decisively about their plans as ministers, it is hardly clear whether they will have any time to see their ambitious plans put into action in the three months until elections. Blue and White Party leader Benny Gantz attacked Netanyahu for appointing Peretz and Smotrich, saying: “The traffic laws are being replaced by Halachic law.” MK Yair Lapid added a barb of his own when he said: “I wonder how the security cabinet worked in King David and Solomon’s day.”

Yedioth Ahronot reports that despite the fact that Prime Minister Netanyahu pledged eight months ago to remove the Khan al-Ahmar settlement “within a matter of weeks,” the state now wants to postpone the court ruling to remove the outpost until after the next elections and a new government is formed.