The online editions of the Financial Times and Independent both report on two rockets which landed yesterday morning in the southern Israeli resort town of Eilat, which is situated close to both the Egyptian and Jordanian borders. No injuries or damage were reported, but both articles note that the attack was launched from Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula by an extremist Islamist group. The Independent online outlines increased terrorist attacks from Sinai on Israel’s southern border since the fall of Hosni Mubarak in Egypt in 2012. Meanwhile, the Financial Times says that tensions are increasing on Israel’s northern border with Syria, as Syrian Islamist opposition groups establish a growing presence in the area.

The Telegraph reports that in Syria itself, President Assad has accused Western countries of supporting al-Qaeda, through its’ backing of the opposition which is seeking to overthrow him. The Financial Times online notes that the United Nations and Arab League envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, is threatening to resign from his position due to frustration over the diplomatic deadlock in Syria.

The Times reports that Hamas fighters have seized part of an historic Roman-era archaeological site in the Gaza Strip which had been nominated as a UN heritage site and intend to use it as a training camp. The Guardian online covers an appeal by Palestinian Authority officials to the European Union, urging pressure on Israel to release Samer Issawi, a Palestinian prisoner on a long-term hunger strike who is currently in an Israeli hospital. The online edition of the Telegraph says that Israel has declined permits for a number of Gaza-based runners to enter the West Bank in order to compete in the upcoming Bethlehem marathon. The Telegraph online reports the concerns of Western diplomats that Iran has installed additional centrifuges at the Natanz facility, which if activated would boost its uranium enrichment capability.

In the Israeli media, most dailies lead with yesterday morning’s rocket attack on Eilat by an Islamist group in the Sinai Peninsula. This is the headline story in Yediot Ahronot, Haaretz and Makor Rishon. There is plenty of discussion and commentary on the incident, especially over the role of the Iron Dome battery which appeared not to have been activated. Writing in Yediot Ahronot, Alex Fishman says that such an attack was hardly a surprise but criticises the security establishment for “treating the public like it is a problem child who can’t be told the truth about relations with Egypt.”

Meanwhile, the lead headline in Maariv is devoted to comments made yesterday by US Secretary of State John Kerry, who told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that the window for achieving a peace agreement to establish a two-state solution in the region may close in two years’ time. Commentators in Maariv largely interpret Kerry’s comments as a public message to Israeli and Palestinian leaders to return to direct talks.

Israel Radio news includes coverage of Prime Minister Netanyahu’s meeting yesterday in London with Prime Minister David Cameron, at which the two leaders discussed a range of issues including the peace process and the dangers posed by the continuing conflict in Syria, which Netanyahu elaborated on in an interview with the BBC. Netanyahu was in London to attend the funeral of Margaret Thatcher. Today’s English online edition of Haaretz includes an op-ed by former BICOM Israel director, Jonah Cummings outlining the impact of a number of British Jews on Thatcher’s administration.