The Times reports that Israel’s Minister for Strategic Affairs, Yuval Steinitz, who is visiting London, has warned that European Union (EU) moves to separately label goods produced in the West Bank will likely have a negative impact on the prospect of peace talks between Israeli and Palestinian leaders. The Telegraph online also covers speculation over such as EU initiative, after Haaretz yesterday reported that EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton has asked EU commissioners to formulate guidelines on labelling West Bank goods separately from Israeli goods. Meanwhile, the Independent online reports that there is opposition among Palestinians to the planned opening of a branch of the Israeli clothing chain Fox in Ramallah.

The Guardian online says that Iran’s foreign ministry has responded to the EU’s decision earlier this week to proscribe the military wing of Hezbollah, saying that the decision serves Israeli interests.

The Financial Times reports that Israel’s foreign ministry has launched a dedicated Twitter account targeting users in Gulf states as a channel with which to engage directly with the six countries which comprise the Gulf Cooperation Council. The article says that informal and somewhat secretive business links exist between Israel and the Gulf states despite the absence of official diplomatic relations.

Continued violence in Egypt is covered by the Guardian online and the Financial Times online, as at least six supporters of Mohammed Morsi are reported to have been killed by security forces in Cairo and a bomb at a police station in Mansoura wounded at least twenty.

Meanwhile, the Guardian online says that the US House and Senate Intelligence Committees have both given their approval to White House plans for limited arming of specific opposition groups in Syria. Nonetheless, according to the Times and the online editions of the Telegraph and Independent, the Pentagon assesses that direct US military intervention in Syria would cost billions of dollars and potentially unleash dangerous chemical weapons. The Telegraph online also reports that in Syria itself, an ‘amnesty’ offered by the Assad regime has been accepted by a number of opposition fighters, who have agreed to lay down their arms in exchange for safe passage.

In the Israeli media this morning, Israel Hayom and Makor Rishon both lead with today’s election of Israel’s chief rabbis, which is also covered heavily by Haaretz, Maariv and Yediot Ahronot. The vote for both Ashkenazi and Sephardi Chief Rabbis takes place once every ten years via a forum of 150 rabbis and public figures, including some MKs. The election is widely perceived as a battle between the ultra-Orthodox and religious Zionist camps and relations between the two have been particularly acrimonious during the current campaign.

Yediot Ahronot leads with the story of a double murder yesterday in central Jerusalem. In an item which is also covered prominently by Israel Hayom and Haaretz, a lawyer and his daughter, a trainee attorney were shot dead at their offices by a security guard over what was said to be a financial dispute of approximately £1,000. Yediot Ahronot asks “Who gave him a gun permit?”

Meanwhile, the political fallout from the announcement several days ago that peace talks are set to resume, is widely covered. Yediot Ahronot says that Likud MKs have demanded that a potential referendum on a future deal, as advocated by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, must include questions over the future of the West Bank and not only territories currently under full Israeli control. Netanyahu apparently agrees with the stipulation. Meanwhile, Maariv reports that Naftali Bennett’s Jewish Home party will quit the coalition if a West Bank settlement freeze is introduced.