Developments in Syria take centre stage in the media this morning. The battle that took place yesterday between opposition forces and Syrian government troops at the Israel-Syria border town of Quneitra is covered in the Times, Independent, Metro, Sun, Evening Standard and the online editions of the Guardian and Telegraph. After opposition fighters initially took control of the town, with fighting taking place just dozens of metres from Israeli military positions, President Assad’s forces appeared to regain authority in Quneitra by the end of the day. Quneitra is the only border crossing in the demilitarised zone between Israel and Syria. The Israeli military closed roads nearby and asked civilians to stay indoors while the fighting raged.

Meanwhile, due to the fighting yesterday, Austria announced that it would withdraw 377 troops from the United Nations (UN) peacekeeping force on the Israel-Syria border. The Austrian contingent comprised more than one third of the UN Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) and the future of the peacekeeping force is now unclear. The Telegraph online reports the Austrian decision while the Guardian and the online edition of the Financial Times note that Israel has registered concern over the withdrawal, with suggestions that it could undermine any potential role for UN peacekeepers in a future Israeli-Palestinian peace deal.

The Telegraph online suggests that North Korean military officials are in Syria, providing advice to Assad’s forces. The online editions of the Telegraph and Independent cover comments made by al-Qaeda head Ayman al-Zawahri urging Islamist opposition forces in Syria to topple Assad and then establish an anti-Western government. Meanwhile, the Guardian online says that the UK is hosting a Friends of Syria meeting as doubts persist over the viability of international-sponsored peace talks in Geneva.

The Times covers comments made by Bulgaria’s new Foreign Minister Kristian Vegenin, casting doubt over the investigation of the previous Bulgarian government into a bus bombing in the Black Sea resort of Burgas last summer, which killed five Israeli tourists and a Bulgarian bus driver. The probe found Hezbollah responsible for the attack, but Vegenin has called the evidence “circumstantial” and claimed that it shouldn’t be the basis of a European Union decision to proscribe Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation, a move currently being pushed by the UK government.

The Guardian, Times, Telegraph, Independent, Daily Mail and Independent i report that a shareholders meeting of global security form G4S was disrupted by protesters opposed to the company supplying video cameras to Israeli prisons. Questions were also asked on the issue by shareholders during the meeting.

The Independent and its’ sister publication Independent i cover arrests made in connection with the double murder of two people at a gay youth centre in Tel Aviv four years ago, also noting that 100,000 people are expected to attend the city’s gay pride parade today. The Independent also includes a feature on the difficulties facing Israel’s Finance Minister Yair Lapid after popular support swept him into government earlier this year.

In the Israeli media this morning, the front page headlines in Yediot Ahronot, Haaretz and Israel Hayom focus on the unfolding investigation into the double murder at Tel Aviv’s gay youth centre in 2009. Four arrests have been made and although the details are still subject to a gag order, the articles in each publication focus on the motive behind the shootings after the police claimed that it may not have been a hate crime but instead a case of revenge which went awry. However, some commentators including Yonatan Lemze in Maariv ask how the murder of two apparently random people could have been anything other than a hate crime. Israel Radio news reports that the Tel Aviv gay pride parade will take place today, expecting to attract a huge crowd.

Meanwhile, Maariv leads with the escalation of violence yesterday near the border with Syria at the town of Quneitra. Haaretz and Israel Hayom also place a significant focus on this story, in particular Israel’s concern that the UN peacekeeping force in the area will collapse.