The BBC reports on the creation of a new national unity government in Lebanon, ending nearly nine months of wrangling. “We must turn the page and start working,” said Prime Minister Saad al-Hariri, who is now in his third term. The 30-member cabinet has four women, including the interior minister – a first for Lebanon. The most pressing challenge for the cabinet is to revive Lebanon’s economic fortunes and cut the national debt, which stands at about 150 per cent of GDP. Hariri’s reforms are expected to unlock nearly $11bn (£8bn) in pledged international aid and loans. Fireworks lit up the sky over the capital Beirut on Thursday to celebrate the formation of the new government.

Reuters reports that according to a US official on Friday, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) has ended all assistance to Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. The decision was linked to a 31 January deadline set by new US legislation under which foreign aid recipients would be more exposed to anti-terrorism lawsuits. The deadline also sees the end of some $60m in US aid for the Palestinian security forces, whose cooperation with Israeli forces helps maintain relative quiet in the West Bank. The Anti-Terrorism Clarification Act (ATCA) empowers Americans to sue foreign aid recipients in US courts over alleged complicity in “acts of war”. The Palestinians have declined further US funding, worried about legal jeopardy. “At the request of the Palestinian Authority, we have wound down certain projects and programmes funded with assistance under the authorities specified in ATCA in the West Bank and Gaza,” a US official told Reuters on Friday.

Karen Young from the American Enterprise Institute in Washington DC writes in the Financial Times, arguing that: “Lebanon is used to thriving on the edge of a financial precipice but its current crisis is complicated by the interjection of Gulf rivalry”. Young adds: “Lebanon’s real weakness, in fact, has not been a lack of access to capital, but stalled government decision-making and power-sharing. Right now the central bank is trying to do the job a government should do — supplying markets with some confidence in the stability of policymaking.”

The BBC, Guardian, Times and Financial Times report that a US court found Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime liable for the death of American war correspondent Marie Colvin in February 2012. The BBC reports that Colvin, 56, died in the besieged city of Homs, Syria, alongside French photographer Remi Ochlik, 28, when the building they were in was shelled. US District Judge Amy Berman Jackson said it was an “extrajudicial killing”. She also ordered Damascus to pay $302.5m (£231m) in damages for an “unconscionable crime”. It is the first time Assad’s regime is held to account for a war crime and sets a legal precedent, the BBC‘s Barbara Plett Usher in Washington reports. The civil lawsuit was filed by Colvin’s family in 2016. The Syrian regime was not involved in defending the case.

The Financial Times and Guardian report that the UK, France and Germany have set up a special trade channel to counter the impact of US sanctions on Iran and save the nuclear deal that world powers signed with the Islamic republic. The Financial Times reports that the three European signatories to the 2015 accord hope establishing the mechanism, known as Instex, can be used to keep open some lines of trade between European companies and Iran. “Today we have taken a significant step forward in delivering our commitment under the Iran nuclear deal to preserve sanctions relief for the people of Iran,” said UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt. He added: “This is a clear, practical demonstration that we remain firmly committed to the historic 2015 nuclear deal struck with Iran … for as long as Iran keeps implementing it fully.” Heiko Maas, the German foreign minister, told reporters in Romania that it was “a step that makes clear that, even when others have a different opinion, we are capable in the EU of going our own way in a united and resolute manner”. The Guardian reports that according to Maas, the channel would initially focus on trying to ease the flow of humanitarian supplies to Iran as such supplies, including medicines and foodstuffs, are not supposed to be subject to US sanctions. Eventually, the plan is for the vehicle to allow European firms to trade more freely with Iran in a range of goods, including those subject to US sanctions, the EU foreign affairs chief, Federica Mogherini, said.

The Guardian reports that the singer Mariah Carey has been criticised by women’s rights campaigners for helping to airbrush Saudi Arabia’s poor human rights record by agreeing to perform there. Carey appeared with DJ Tiesto, Sean Paul and the Yemen-born singer Balqees Fathi on Thursday in what she has claimed was an opportunity to work towards gender desegregation in the Kingdom. Activists, however, have rejected that. “The Saudi government is using entertainment to distract the people from human rights abuses because it can sense the anger among the public,” said Omaima al-Najjar, a Saudi woman who sought political refuge abroad and co-founded Women for Rights in Saudi Arabia (WARSA).

The Times and Independent report that the ceasefire is close to collapse in Yemen. The Times reports that jets of the Saudi-led coalition resumed bombing around the crucial port of Hodeidah. The air attacks were necessary because Houthi rebels had refused to redeploy troops in line with a UN-negotiated ceasefire agreement signed in Stockholm in December, a coalition spokesman said. Anwar Gargash, foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates, the other leading regional power fighting with the Saudis, said that the rebels had failed to meet an agreement to pull out of Hodeidah. “Still no Houthi withdrawal from Hodeidah city and ports, and militia blocking aid convoys from leaving Hodeidah and barring ships from entering ports,” he said on Twitter. He added that the coalition had struck ten Houthi training camps outside Hodeidah and was “prepared to use more calibrated force to prod Houthi compliance with Stockholm agreement”. The Independent reports that residents of Yemeni port city of Hodeidah are so hungry they are eating from rubbish tips, while others are bleeding to death trapped in their bombed-out houses, as fighting has flared in the strategic port town. Describing life caught in the cross-fire, Ashwaq Moharram, a Yemeni doctor from the area, said families were starving to death or dying trying to secure medical help as the conflict continues to cut off parts of the city. Speaking to The Independent during a brief trip to Egypt to see sick family members, the trained gynaecologist said she has watched injured civilians perish in ambulances trying to navigate treacherous mountain roads to safety. Despite assurances that a ceasefire deal between the Houthi rebels and the recognised government would allow aid to flow into the port city, she said the truce failed before it even started. Hodeidah, the main entry point for Yemen’s food and medical supplies, is still under sporadic fire.

Reuters reports that in a rebuke of President Donald Trump, the Republican-led US Senate advanced largely symbolic legislation on Thursday opposing plans for any abrupt withdrawal of troops from Syria and Afghanistan. The Senate voted 68-23 in favour of a non-binding amendment, drafted by Republican Majority Leader Mitch McConnell saying it was the sense of the Senate that Islamic militant groups in both countries continue to pose a “serious threat” to the US. The procedural vote to cut off debate meant that the amendment would be added to a broader Middle East security bill likely to come up for a final Senate vote next week. The amendment acknowledges progress against ISIS and al Qaeda in Syria and Afghanistan but warns that “a precipitous withdrawal” without effective efforts to secure gains could destabilise the region and create a vacuum that could be filled by Iran or Russia.

In the Israeli media Yediot Ahronot and Maariv report that Attorney General Mandelblit will announce his decision whether or not to indict Prime Minister Netanyahu in February. According to Yediot Ahronot, in the next two weeks, the Attorney General will meet with his inner team in order to formulate a decision. Prime Minister Netanyahu issued a critical statement against the Attorney General, saying: “It appears that the attorney general has given in to the pressure of the left wing and the media to indict Prime Minister Netanyahu at any cost — and before the elections.  We hope that the left wing’s mighty pressure on the attorney general will not overcome him again when he is called upon to decide whether to treat two and a half articles in Walla as bribe-taking.”

Haaretz reports that an Israel Defence Forces (IDF) court has indicted a commander and five soldiers for beating two Palestinian detainees they arrested. According to the charges filed with the military court, the soldiers slapped the two detainees, a father and his son, punched them and hit them with sharp objects, while they were handcuffed and blindfolded. They also forced the son to watch his father being beaten. The soldiers were charged with abuse and aggravated assault, resulting in severe injuries. Two of the soldiers were also charged with obstruction of justice, for allegedly coordinating their stories. The case of the soldiers’ commander, a first lieutenant charged with not preventing the violent incident, is being examined separately. Their defence lawyers claimed the soldiers “were put in an impossible situation” following a terror attack, “of arresting the terrorists who were involved in the murder of their friends”.

Responding to European efforts to circumvent US sanctions on Iran, the Israeli Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, told Kan radio that he was not certain that Europe would succeed. Danon said that 40 ambassadors had travelled to Israel in order to gain an impression of the situation and that they would visit various sites, including the Hezbollah tunnels. He said that this was an important visit that in the long-term could persuade ambassadors and countries to support Israel in UN votes.

Maariv reports that Israel and Egypt have been holding intense talks to try to stabilise the fragile situation in the Gaza Strip. The Israeli side is headed by National Security Adviser Meir Ben-Shabbat with very high-ranking IDF officers. Although last week was relatively quiet, Israel is aware that Palestine Islamic Jihad is trying to cause the situation to escalate. It is expected that the IDF will again clash with rioters today near the border fence. Despite the agreement reached on the Qatari money, the IDF is preparing for large-scale violence. The Palestinian factions have asked all “the fence rebels” to clash at all possible points “in response to the crimes of the occupation”. They called to form a Palestinian national unity government and put an end to internal Palestinian division.

Yediot Ahronot reports on Facebook’s announcement that it has ended a new massive manipulation campaign, orchestrated by Iran and directed against many countries, including Israel. The social network said it had removed 783 pages, groups and accounts that promoted Iran’s interests on sensitive issues such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Syria and Yemen by creating fake Facebook identities.

In election news, Israel Hayom includes a series of polls. On the central question, ‘If elections were held today, for which party would you vote,’ Likud would win 28 seats, Israel Resilience Party 19 seats, Yesh Atid 9 seats, Joint List 9 seats, New Right 7 seats, UTJ 7 seats, Kulanu 5 seats, Labour Party 5 seats, Gesher 4 seats, Meretz 4 seats, and Shas 4 seats. The paper also asked, ‘If Benny Gantz and Moshe (Bogie) Yaalon run in a joint party with Yair Lapid and Gabi Ashkenazi, for which party will you vote?’ A joint party of Gantz, Yaalon, Lapid and Ashkenazi would win 32 seats, Likud 30 seats, Joint List 9 seats, UTJ 8 seats, New Right 7 seats, Meretz 4 seats, Kulanu 4 seats. In this scenario several exisiting parties would not make it over the threshold including the Labour Party, Yisrael Beiteinu and Shas. The poll also asked, ‘What do you think is the most pressing issue that will determine the results of the next Knesset elections:’  32 per cent said the security situation; 23 per cent said Netanyahu’s investigation; 7 per cent said social gaps; 7 per cent said religion and state, 21 per cent said cost of living, and  10 per cent answered ‘other’. When asked, ‘Which candidate do you think is best suited to be prime minister,’ Netanyahu received 38 per cent to Gantz’s 22 per cent.

Kan news suggests that Netanyahu is debating a union with the New Right as a response to former IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz’s recent surge in the polls and speculation that Gantz could run together with Yesh Atid. Maariv covers Moshe Kahlon’s claim that after the election he will remain as finance minister.