This morning’s Guardian, Independent i and Financial Times report on yesterday’s announcement by Israel’s former-foreign minister Tzipi Livni that she is returning to politics to head a new party in January’s election. Although Livni did not announce who will run as candidates for the new centrist party called Hatnuah (The Movement), she vowed to provide an alternative to Prime Minister Netanyahu and to “fight for peace.”

Meanwhile most broadsheets cover the latest build-up to the UN General Assembly vote later this week which is expected to approve recognition of the Palestinian delegation as that of a ‘non-member state.’ The Telegraph reports that Foreign Secretary William Hague telephoned Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday night and indicated that the UK will vote in favour of the resolution if three key conditions are met, including a pledge to return to peace talks with Israel without preconditions. The Daily Mail suggests that Hague will outline the proposed understanding to MPs today. The Times, Independent i and the Financial Times focus on the announcement by the French foreign minister that Paris will vote in favour of the initiative. An article in the Guardian highlights quotes by PA officials warning that failure to adopt the resolution will boost Hamas.

The Independent includes an interview with senior Hamas leader Mousa Abu Marzook, who confirms that indirect discussions are underway in Cairo to firm up the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas following Operation Pillar of Defence. However, he warned that Egypt will not be able to prevent the continuation of weapons smuggling into the Gaza Strip.

Almost every daily includes coverage of the exhumation of former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s body yesterday in Ramallah. The Sun, Metro, Independent i, Evening Standard, Daily Mail, Daily Express, Guardian, Times and Financial Times all report that Swiss, French and Russian forensic experts will examine samples taken from Arafat’s body in an attempt to determine whether he was poisoned or not eight years ago. The Daily Mirror predicts that the results of the investigation will not be known until April 2013. Writing in the Independent, Robert Fisk comments on Arafat’s life and death while the Daily Telegraph includes an editorial which describes the allegation of Arafat’s poisoning as “conspiracy theory”.

The Times and the Independent in addition to the online editions of the Guardian and Financial Times report on mass protests which took place yesterday throughout Egypt against President Morsi’s rule, following the sweeping new powers which he granted himself last week. An estimated 100,000 people participated in a peaceful rally in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, while protests reportedly turned violent in Alexandria and Mansoura.

Meanwhile, the online editions of both the Telegraph and Independent report that Syrian Air Force jets yesterday bombed an olive press factory, killing at least twenty civilians and wounding many others.

In the Israeli media, attention is focused on Tzipi Livni’s announcement yesterday that she will head a new party called Hatnuah in January’s election. It is the headline in Yediot Ahronot, Makor Rishon and Israel Hayom, while a Haaretz poll predicts that Livni’s new party will win support at the expense of the Labour Party and Yesh Atid. Writing in Yediot Ahronot, Nahum Barnea praises Livni for bringing the peace process back into the discourse of the election, while in Maariv, Shalom Yerushalmi discusses the possibility of Dan Meridor joining Hatnuah after he failed to win a realistic electable slot on the Likud Party list.

The headline in Maariv focuses on fears among Israeli officials that a significant number of European countries will vote in favour of the UN General Assembly resolution to recognise the Palestinian delegation as representative of a ‘non-member state’ later this week. Israel Radio News reports that France has already declared its support for the resolution and that Israel is unlikely to take serious measures against the PA should the resolution be approved.

Israel Radio News also reported this morning that the attorney general will close the investigation of Foreign Minister Avigdor Leiberman in the ‘straw companies’ case, in which he was suspected of illegally receiving millions of pounds in payments from private business people while a member of Knesset and the cabinet. However, Lieberman looks likely to be charged with the lesser offence of breach of trust in a separate case.