The Financial Times and the online editions of the Guardian and Telegraph report on the announcement yesterday that Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman will be indicted for fraud and breach of trust. However, charges will not be pressed against Lieberman for what is considered the more serious offence of money-laundering connected to a separate case. Lieberman yesterday denied all wrongdoing while his political opponents called on him to resign from his ministerial position ahead of elections next month.

The Times, Telegraph and the online edition of the Guardian cover a mass rally organised by Hamas in the West Bank city of Nablus. It was the first time since 2007 that the Fatah-controlled authorities in the West Bank had permitted a public Hamas event. The rally is widely seen as further indication of the increased possibility of a rapprochement between the two factions, which have been fierce rivals since Hamas violently seized control of the Gaza Strip from Fatah five years ago.

The Independent and its sister publication Independent i report clashes between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian protestors which took place yesterday in the West Bank city of Hebron, following the funeral of a Palestinian youth killed on Wednesday after he appeared to threaten an Israeli patrol with a gun, which later proved to be a fake weapon. The clashes are also noted in the Times.

Elsewhere in the region, the online edition of the Independent previews the referendum vote which is scheduled to take place in Egypt on Saturday to determine whether the country’s controversial new draft constitution will be adopted or not. Opposition supporters have been urged to vote against the document rather than boycott the poll. However, uncertainty remains over whether the referendum will take place over the course of just one day or in two stages with several judges refusing to oversee the vote.

Meanwhile, the Telegraph, Times and the online edition of the Guardian all report on the admission by Russia for the first time that the regime of Syria’s President Assad is losing ground to opposition forces, following comments made by the country’s deputy foreign minister who said that Assad “is losing more and more control.” Russia has given Assad’s regime unstinting diplomatic and military support.

The announcement of the charges to be brought against Avigdor Lieberman dominates the headlines in the Israeli media this morning, leading coverage in Haaretz, Yediot Ahronot, Maariv, Israel Hayom and Makor Rishon. Yediot Ahronot leads with the headline of “One case closed, one case opened,” while Maariv highlights that Lieberman does not intend to resign at the moment. Writing in Yediot Ahronot, Nahum Barnea calls Lieberman’s conduct “the behaviour of a criminal” but cautions that only a court of law can make a real judgment. In the same publication, Shimon Shifler criticises the public prosecution, which has taken over a decade to complete its investigation into Lieberman. In Israel Hayom, Mordechai Gilat calls for both Lieberman and the attorney general to resign.

Haaretz prominently covers the violence which took place yesterday in Hebron and notes that there is a high state of alert in the city ahead of a Hamas rally which will take place there today. Yediot Ahronot’s military affairs correspondent Alex Fishman comments on the increasing violence in the West Bank, writing “The situation on the ground is ripe for an explosion,” but says that with elections looming any action to diffuse the situation is unlikely.

Meanwhile, both Yediot Ahronot and Maariv publish polls this morning. The Yediot Ahronot survey indicates a slight drop in support for the Likud-Yisrael Beitenu list, but both polls still point to a comfortable victory for the joint ticket. The Labour Party looks set to win 19-20 seats in second place according to both polls, while Tzipi Livni’s Hatnuah party is placed as the third largest party in Yediot Ahronot, but polls behind both Shas and Habayit Yehudi in fifth spot in Maariv.