The Independent, its sister publication Independent i and the online edition of the Guardian all cover a United Nations report which concluded that an errant Hamas rocket was most likely responsible for killing the son of a BBC journalist in Gaza, during Operation Pillar of Defence. It had been widely reported at the time that Jehad Mashhrawi’s infant son had been killed in an Israeli air strike, fuelling allegations that Israel had failed to adequately discriminate between civilians and combatants. However, the UN report concluded that shrapnel from a misfired Palestinian rocket was the most likely cause of the incident. Meanwhile, the Daily Mirror reports that the Hamas authorities, which control the Gaza Strip, have begun a “ruthless” campaign to find Gazans who have cooperated with Israeli intelligence.

The Independent includes a detailed summary of US President Obama’s upcoming trip to Israel and the region that begins next Wednesday. The two-day visit will include meetings with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

The broadsheets also include a number of stories surrounding the civil war in Syria. The online editions of the Guardian, Independent, Financial Times, Telegraph and Times all cover comments made yesterday by Prime Minister David Cameron at a parliamentary committee, in which he indicated that if the European Union fails to agree on lifting the Syrian arms embargo in May, then the UK government may act independently and consider arming opposition forces itself. Cameron also warned of the dangers of inaction as the conflict continues. The online editions of the Times and Telegraph cover reports published by UNICEF and Save The Children, both warning of the grave impact that the civil war is having on an entire generation of Syrian children. The Telegraph includes a feature on the everyday difficulties faced by Syrian refugees who have fled to neighbouring Lebanon.

In most Israeli dailies, front-page coverage is given to a helicopter crash that killed two experienced Israel Air Force pilots early yesterday morning. Contact was lost with the aircraft and rescuers located the wreckage at around 5.00am local time. The crash killed 49-year-old Lt.Col. Noam Ron and Maj. Erez Flexer, aged 31. Both will be buried today. Yediot Ahronot‘s headline calls it a “Double tragedy” while Israel Hayom describes the pilots as “two of the best.” Haaretz and Maariv suggest that a technical failure caused the crash. The Chief of the Israel Air Force, Maj.Gen. Amir Eshel has ordered an investigation into the incident.

The other major story this morning is ongoing coalition talks, which remain stuck over a number of issues, including who will become the new education minister. Likud-Beitenu wants Gideon Sa’ar to remain in the role, while Yesh Atid insists that Shai Peron should fill the post. Although Maariv and Makor Rishon highlight the disagreement, Yediot Ahronot and Haaretz both emphasise that an apparent agreement has been reached between Likud-Beitenu, Yesh Atid and Jewish Home to raise the electoral threshold from two per cent to four per cent. Were the proposal to become law, individual parties would most likely be required to secure at least five Knesset seats in order to gain parliamentary representation. The effect would be to reduce the number of parties in the Knesset, which many believe would lead to more stable government.  Meanwhile, Israel Hayom and Israel Radio News report that a Palestinian man was killed, and eight others injured, in clashes with IDF troops in Al-Fawar near Hebron.