The FT and the BBC report that the US has temporarily suspended F-35 flights for safety checks. The FT reports that the US has suspended flights for 24-48 hours to check for possible faulty fuel tubes in the engines of the planes. The Pentagon said in a statement that the US military and its international partners, which include the UK, would also be suspending flight operations temporarily to inspect fuel tubes as a precaution, after a crash in South Carolina last month raised concerns about whether the part was to blame.

The Daily Mail and Reuters report that Israel’s military said it destroyed a Hamas-built tunnel extending into its territory from the Gaza Strip on Thursday that was intended for attacks on Israel. Israeli military spokesman Jonathan Conricus said it was the 15th tunnel discovered and destroyed by Israel in the past year. Reuters reports that there was no immediate comment from Hamas, which has fought three wars with Israel in the past decade and is the dominant Palestinian armed force in Gaza, where an Israeli security fence runs along the frontier. “In the past few hours our forces have neutralised a terrorist attack tunnel belonging to the Hamas terrorist organisation, which penetrated Israel from the central Gaza Strip,” an Israeli military statement said.

Reuters and the Daily mail via AP report that the American student detained by Israel, has appealed to a judge to allow her to enter the country to begin her studies. Reuters reports that Lara Alqasem appealed to the Tel Aviv District Court on Thursday against a decision to bar her entry to Israel, even though she had a study visa, over alleged activities supporting an international boycott campaign by pro-Palestinian groups. The case has touched off a debate in Israel over whether democratic values have been compromised by a 2017 law that bars the entry of foreigners who publicly support anti-Israel boycotts, and if a hard line against the student would ultimately harm the country’s image. But Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said on Twitter on Wednesday that Israel would reconsider the ban only if she declares she made a mistake in the past and believes support for a boycott is “illegitimate”. The Daily mail reports that she is to remain in detention until the court delivers its written verdict in the coming days. The judge gave no indication which way he would lean or when he would make his decision. “I think we have a good case. The state’s argument and evidence was weak, but I’ve learned not to be optimistic,” her lawyer Yotam Ben-Hillel said, referring to a court’s rejection of Alqasem’s first appeal. Israel has said that she is not being held against her will and is free to leave the country. It also has said it would reconsider its decision if she apologises and renounces the boycott movement.

The Daily Mail, Independent and the BBC report that the Turkish Government claims to have evidence that US-based Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi was murdered at the Saudi Arabian Consulate after the critic of the country went to sign papers for his upcoming wedding. He was captured on CCTV footage entering the building in Istanbul on 2 October and a source has told The Washington Post he was killed and then dismembered. “The voice recording from inside the embassy lays out what happened to Jamal after he entered,” the insider told the newspaper that Khashoggi worked for. “You can hear his voice and the voices of men speaking Arabic … You can hear how he was interrogated, tortured and then murdered.” The Daily Mail has additionally reported that Saudi Arabia targeted Khashoggi because the journalist knew about the Kingdom’s ties to al-Qaeda in the run-up to 9/11, snubbed the royal family and walked away from the inner circle, a former colleague has revealed. Khashoggi has been critical of the Saudi Government and some of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s policies, has not been seen since he entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. The Independent reports that luring dissidents to meetings to “disappear” them is a common ruse used by authorities in Saudi Arabia. The BBC reports that Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the UK has told the BBC he is “concerned” about Khashoggi. But Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf al Saud added it would be “premature” to comment on the issue at present.

Reuters reports the ramifications of the journalist’s disappearance. Reuters journalist Patricia Zengerle reports that the disappearance of Khashoggi has hardened resistance in the US Congress to selling weapons to Saudi Arabia, already a sore point for many lawmakers concerned about the humanitarian crisis created by Yemen’s civil war. Reuters additionally reports that British billionaire Richard Branson said on Thursday that his Virgin Group would suspend its discussions with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund over a planned $1bn investment in the group’s space ventures, in light of the disappearance of Khashoggi.

The Spectator reports that as US President Donald Trump cuts funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, the EU must fill the vacuum.

Reuters reports that the visit by the USS Ross to the Israeli port of Ashdod is sign of the deep alliance between Israel and the US. The US Navy warship visit is first such visit in almost 20 years.

All the Israeli media focus on a stabbing attack yesterday near Nablus in which an IDF reservist sustained medium injuries. Bystanders opened fire at the attacker, and a young woman suffered light injuries from shrapnel. The attacker fled the scene and was captured last night after a manhunt. The Palestinian who is suspected of shooting two Israelis to death on Sunday at the Barkan industrial zone remains at large, and the search for him continues.

Haaretz, Maariv and Yediot Ahronot all report on the destruction of a Hamas tunnel yesterday. The tunnel is the 15th one to have been destroyed in the past two years, was reportedly one kilometre in length and extended 200 meters into Israeli territory.

Maariv and Haaretz report that the Tel Aviv District Court yesterday heard the appeal of American student Lara Alqasem, who has been denied entry to Israel and has been at Ben Gurion Airport for ten days for allegedly being a key activist in the Israeli Boycott movement. In an opinion piece in Haaretz titled ‘Israel’s Ministry of Silly Affairs’, Anshel Pfeffer argues that “Lara Alqasem is the latest victim of the superfluous Strategic Affairs Ministry, headed by an over-reaching amateur to sow panic about the virtual reality boycott movement,” adding that “It’s a classic political farce that’s now actually damaging Israel’s foreign relations”.

Maariv reports that flying balloon terrorism in southern Israel continues, with fires breaking out in the Gaza periphery communities yesterday despite the delivery of diesel fuel to the Gaza Strip and the attempts to calm the situation. In Jerusalem, policemen and sappers went to the Valley of the Cross in Jerusalem earlier yesterday after fire balloons were reported. The paper also reports that Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said he thought that the test of a truce arrangement would be on Friday, insinuating that if Hamas does not give the signal for calm, Israel will intensify its actions against it. Israel sent six diesel tankers to Gaza on Wednesday in order to provide additional hours of electricity to the Gaza Strip, which has been experiencing a serious power crisis.

On a similar theme, Yossi Yehoshua in Yediot Ahronot writes that “the IDF’s updated situation assessment is that since Qatari-funded trucks of diesel fuel were brought into the Gaza Strip, the events at the fence have calmed down, both in terms of the number of people participating in the disturbances and in terms of the number of incendiary and explosive balloons released”.

Maariv reports that a fierce confrontation broke out yesterday between MK Eitan Cabel and Zionist Union Chairman Avi Gabbay in their faction meeting. When the faction convened ahead of the start of the Knesset’s winter session next week, Cabel said to Gabbay. “I’m not afraid to speak up. I am looking you right in the eye and telling you. No one wants to oust you, no one wants to harm you. We love our home. Everyone wants you to succeed, but no one wants to be unemployed and unable to work on behalf of the country,” hinting at the party’s dramatic decline in the polls. MKs who were present said Gabbay responded sharply and accused him and other MKs of leaks and defaming him and the party, calling Cabel a “work accident” in the media. Gabbay reacted angrily, saying firmly to his party members: “Let it be clear to everyone—I don’t intend to budge from here. No public pressure will sway me. Public opinion will not influence me. I’m here and I’m not going anywhere. I have received a mandate to lead the party, and I will lead it. I have received a full mandate from the public.”

Kan Radio News reports that the Jerusalem District Court reached a plea bargain with the 21 year-old East Jerusalem resident, Mohammed Ghazem, who was convicted him of attempting to cause serious bodily harm. Several months ago, Ghazem threw a large stone off the roof of a building at a Jewish tourist who was passing by.