The online edition of the Financial Times previews US Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to Israel and Palestinian areas of the West Bank, which is scheduled to begin today. It will be Kerry’s fifth visit to the region since March as he continues to make concerted efforts to kick-start Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. However, he is quoted in the article warning that progress must be visible before September. Meanwhile, the Independent online reports than on the eve of Kerry’s visit, the Jerusalem Municipality has given final approval for 69 new homes to be built in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Har Homa. The homes are not a new initiative, rather the final phase of a previously approved project.

Both the Independent and the Guardian cover the visit to the region by Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who yesterday visited sites in Jerusalem including the Western Wall and the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum.

The Guardian online says that the final remnants of Russian military personnel have been withdrawn from Syria, including at the naval base of Tartus, due to growing concern in Moscow over the level of violence in the country. Meanwhile, the Telegraph online says that according to the watchdog Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the death toll in Syria’s civil war has topped 100,000.

The online editions of the Guardian and Financial Times cover a lengthy public speech made yesterday by Egypt’s President Mohammed Morsi, just days before opposition groups hold planned mass demonstrations against his rule to mark the first anniversary of his election. Morsi did announce the formation of a “reconciliation committee” to look at amending the country’s controversial constitution. However, the Guardian online indicates that Morsi’s speech did little to placate his opponents.

The Guardian online also reports that Philippe Karsenty was found guilty yesterday by a French court of defamation against France 2 television. Karsenty spearheads a campaign to demonstrate that Mohammed al-Dura, the twelve-year-old Palestinian boy who became the icon of the Second Intifada, was not killed by Israeli gunfire in an incident in the Gaza Strip in 2000, as reported by France 2 television. Karsenty, who called the verdict “outrageous” was fined £5,900.

In the Israeli media this morning, Maariv and Makor Rishon focus on John Kerry’s impending visit to the region. Maariv suggests that although neither side has yet agreed to it, that the United States is pushing for a return to talks on the basis that Prime Minister Netanyahu will release a certain number of Palestinian prisoners and introduce a partial settlement freeze, while Palestinian Authority (PA) President Abbas will be required to drop his insistence on talks based on Israeli agreement to pre-1967 borders. Meanwhile, Haaretz claims that an unnamed senior Likud minister has said that Netanyahu is prepared to withdraw from most of the West Bank in order to secure a peace deal. Makor Rishon highlights Kerry’s warning yesterday that progress must be made between the two sides before September. Expressing similar sentiments, European Union Ambassador to Israel, Andrew Standley told Israel Radio news that if progress were not made soon, the window to a two-state solution might close.

Makor Rishon also highlights a visit yesterday by Netanyahu and Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon to the Golan Heights where they observed a large-scale military exercise. Both warned that Israel would not tolerate any threat from forces in Syria and would act decisively if any attack were to occur. Former Mossad chief Meir Dagan criticised the comments as being unnecessarily inflammatory.