There is significant coverage this morning of developments regarding Syria. The Telegraph and the online edition of the Guardian cover a meeting that took place yesterday in Washington between Foreign Secretary William Hague and US Secretary of State John Kerry, at which Syria was a major focus of the discussion. Hague said that more needs to be done to find a political solution to the conflict, which he said has been complicated by Hezbollah’s direct involvement in fighting, while Kerry said that deliberations were taking place on how to best help the opposition. In Syria itself, the Telegraph, Independent, Metro and online edition of the Financial Times report that an Islamist opposition group has been accused by the Assad government of carrying out the killing of sixty Shi’ites in the village of Hatla. Meanwhile, the Times says that Iranian Revolutionary Guards are increasingly participating in combat in Syria alongside forces loyal to President Assad.

This morning there are also several previews of Friday’s presidential election in Iran, where all eight candidates have been vetted by the regime. In the Telegraph, Richard Spencer speculates that whoever wins may be even more problematic for the West than the incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. An editorial in the Independent says that there is no cause for Western optimism ahead of Friday’s vote. However, in the Times, Roger Boyes writes that there may be cracks appearing in the Iranian hard-line leadership. The Financial Times online reports that there are calls for the several hard-line candidates in the race to unify behind one individual, with those critical of the regime’s policies having organised to coalesce support for a single candidate, Hassan Rowhani. The Guardian online says that the Iranian authorities have imposed severe restrictions on foreign media coverage of Friday’s poll.

The Independent i briefly covers a two-day visit by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Poland, where he will discuss a possible arms sale in addition to Middle East diplomatic issues. The Guardian online covers an interview given by Minister for the Middle East Alistair Burt to Israel’s Army Radio in which he warned that if the current effort by US Secretary of State John Kerry to bring Israeli and Palestinian leaders together for peace talks fails, then Israel may find itself increasingly isolated. Meanwhile, the Daily Mail reports on a summer camp for boys in the Gaza Strip in which children as young as six are being taught to use weapons and participate in exercises simulating the kidnapping of an Israeli soldier.

In the Israeli media this morning, several publications lead with comments made by United Nations (UN) Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, who warned that the violence of the Syrian civil war threatens to spark conflict between Israel and Syria. Ban’s comments are the headline in Maariv, Makor Rishon and Israel Hayom, while Haaretz speculates that Swedish troops could lead a pan-Scandinavian force to replace the Austrian soldiers who were withdrawn from the UN peacekeeping force on the Golan Heights last week. Meanwhile, Channel Ten reports that a wounded Syrian man is being treated in a hospital in northern Israel, having arrived with a note addressed to Israeli medics explaining his condition pinned to his clothes written by a Syrian doctor who had overseen the man’s initial treatment.

Yediot Ahronot reports that Mossad Director Tamir Pardo recently met with his Turkish counterpart, in an indication of warming relations between the two countries. Yediot Ahronot’s Itamar Eichner keenly notes that this was initially reported in the Turkish media, suggesting that Turkey is especially keen to publicly demonstrate its’ mending of relations with Israel.

Meanwhile, the Jerusalem Post reports that the Hamas authorities in Gaza intend to execute two Palestinian men recently convicted of “collaborating” with Israel. The Jerusalem Post also notes, as does Israel Hayom, that Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu distanced himself yesterday from an official communiqué which was to serve as a joint statement with the Polish government regarding the peace process. He apparently took issue with language criticising unilateral steps on both sides, concerned that it may imply settlement construction constituted such action.