The Guardian, Independent, Independent i and the Telegraph online all cover the refusal of Palestinian leaders to give their backing for Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas to agree to US Secretary of State John Kerry’s formula for re-starting peace talks with Israel. Following Abbas’ talks with Kerry in Jordan this week and the public backing of the Arab League for Kerry’s plan, a meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organisation and Fatah leaders took place yesterday, but failed to give Abbas the green light to resume negotiations. Kerry is expected to leave the region today.

The Times reports that the Egyptian army has launched a significant military operation against Islamist groups in the Sinai Peninsula, which has become increasingly lawless and violent since the ouster of Mohammed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood. The article notes that Egyptian soldiers are looking to seal tunnels from the Gaza Strip, which are being used as to smuggle both weapons and fighters into Sinai.

The Times also covers comments made by outgoing Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Sir David Richards, who told the Telegraph that attempts to enforce a no-fly zone in Syria would risk being dragged into a war. However, the report also relays comments made by Richards to the Sun in which he said that the transfer of Syrian chemical weapons into the wrong, dangerous hands would likely necessitate military action. Meanwhile, the online editions of the Telegraph and Guardian report that chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Martin Dempsey told a Senate hearing that he had provided President Obama with plans for a range of military options in Syria.

In Syria itself, the Financial Times says that fighting has taken place between Kurdish groups and Islamist rebels in another sign of serious rifts within the opposition movement, seeking the downfall of President Assad. Meanwhile, the Times reports that United Nations chemical weapons inspectors will be granted entry into Syria next week amid claims of chemical weapons use by both sides of the bloody conflict.

In the Israeli media, the main item is the failure of the Palestinian leadership to endorse Kerry’s framework for Israel and the PA to return to peace talks. Maariv calls it last-minute “sabotage,” while Haaretz terms the deadlock a “political siege.” The headline in Sof Hashavua declares “Waiting for the PA” while Israel Hayom emphatically states “As always in negotiations: Waiting for Abu Mazen [Abbas].” In the commentary surrounding this latest episode, Yediot Ahronot’s Alex Fishman blames Palestinian rejectionism for Kerry’s expected return to the United States without an announcement that talks will resume. Also writing in Yediot Ahronot, Shimon Shiffer says that both Abbas and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are primarily concerned with blaming each other for the potential failure of Kerry’s initiative. Meanwhile, Nahum Barnea comments “When the two sides are less interested in reaching an agreement than the mediator, the negotiations have no chance.”

Meanwhile Israel Radio news reports that the new European Union (EU) guidelines on funding Israeli projects and ventures, which is set to include a comprehensive clause prohibiting their application to entities based in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, is expected to be adopted today.

Israel Radio news also reports that two rockets were fired last night from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel, landing in the Eshkol region. No damages or injuries were reported.