Headlines concerning the region this morning focus on the possible use of chemical weapons in Syria and its potential consequences. The online editions of both the Guardian and the Telegraph report that US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel yesterday gave the clearest indication yet that the United States is considering increasing its’ involvement in the bloody Syrian conflict, saying that arming opposition groups attempting to overthrow Syrian President Assad is “an option.” Hagel was speaking during a joint press conference at the Pentagon with Defence Secretary Philip Hammond. The Times online focuses on Hammond’s remarks during the same press briefing, in which he said that if “evidential quality proof” can be found that Assad has used chemical weapons, then Russia may accept the need for intervention in Syria. Russia, a staunch Assad ally, has continually blocked United Nations initiatives to pave the way for international intervention. The Financial Times online includes an article outlining the funding difficulties facing many opposition groups in Syria as they look to purchase increasingly sophisticated weaponry.

The Daily Telegraph reports that two Iranians have been convicted in a Kenyan court of plotting a terror attack and face fifteen years in prison. The pair were caught in possession of a significant amount of explosives and had been scouting potential targets in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, including the British High Commission and the Israeli Embassy.

In the Israeli media this morning, there is significant coverage of Justice Minister Tzipi Livni’s meeting yesterday in Washington with US Secretary of State John Kerry in the wake of the Arab League’s announcement earlier this week which endorsed the idea of land swaps to help delineate final borders in a comprehensive peace agreement between Israel and the Arab world. Livni attended the meeting alongside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s special envoy Yitzchak Molcho. Israel Hayom includes a poll which indicates that almost 55 per cent of Israelis do not believe that the Arab League initiative will lead to resumption in negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

However, the headline in Sof Hashavua, and also a major story in Israel Hayom is the return of Aryeh Deri as the leader of Shas. Deri, Ariel Attias and incumbent leader Eli Yishai had been granted joint leadership of the party during January’s election. However, it was announced yesterday that the party’s spiritual leader, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef has appointed Deri to lead the party, a position he held during the 1990s prior to serving a prison sentence for bribery. Attias will head the party’s Knesset faction while Yishai has been asked to oversee the Shas education network. Writing in Maariv, Shalom Yerushalmi predicts that Deri’s Shas will be more moderate than it was under Yishai’s stewardship.

Meanwhile, Haaretz leads with yesterday’s dramatic day in the trial of former-Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, whose former deputy Danny Ayalon gave testimony as a witness against him. Lieberman is charged with fraud and breach of trust. Sof Hashavua calls it “The Confrontation” after Ayalon was omitted by Lieberman from Yisrael Beitenu’s list of parliamentary candidates ahead of January’s election.

Yediot Ahronot reports that the Lebanese media claims that there has been increased IDF activity near to the border between the two countries. Maariv covers the firing of two mortars yesterday evening from the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, which landed in Israel without causing damage or injuries.