The online edition of the Guardian reports yesterday’s announcement by the US State Department that peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) will resume next Wednesday in Jerusalem, with a further meeting planned in Jericho. The report also notes that the State Department expressed its’ disapproval to Israel over preliminary approval given yesterday for the construction of around eight hundred West Bank homes. The Independent also covers the construction announcement, noting that the approval process is lengthy and that it must include a green light from the government.

The Guardian includes a feature on the purpose-built Palestinian city of Rawabi, which is being constructed in the West Bank in an area under Israeli military control at a cost of one billion dollars. Rawabi is the first planned urban centre for Palestinians and will include homes for forty thousand people plus facilities such as shopping centres and cinemas. Meanwhile, the Telegraph reports that Hamas has reacted nervously to the nascent activities of the Tamarod movement in the Gaza Strip. The organisation is modelled on the Egyptian grassroots movement which was instrumental in Mohammed Morsi’s downfall. Hamas has arrested Tamarod leaders and activists in Gaza and curtailed their activities.

The Times notes that Israel’s military yesterday ordered the closure of the airport in the southern resort city of Eilat for two hours, following an unspecified security threat. Eilat has previously been the target of rocket fire from the adjacent Sinai Peninsula.

Both the Independent and its sister publication Independent i include a feature on the growing number of wounded Syrians receiving medical treatment in Israeli hospitals. The article describes the anxiety that most of these Syrian patients initially experience due to extremely negative preconceptions of Israel. In Syria itself, the Guardian, Times and the online editions of the Telegraph, Financial Times and Independent all report claims by Syrian opposition groups that they attacked and hit a motorcade in Damascus carrying President Assad. Syrian government officials denied that the attack took place and broadcast pictures of Assad praying to mark the end of Ramadan. An editorial in the Guardian warns that the fighting and violence in Syria could yet worsen and continue for a long period of time.

The Financial Times and the Guardian online both cover a letter authored by more than fifty current and former political prisoners in Iran urging the United States to end sanctions on the country and to engage with new President Hassan Rowhani, describing it as “the last chance” of a breakthrough with the West.

In the Israeli media, Israel Hayom leads with the announcement yesterday that peace talks between Israel and the PA will resume next week in Jerusalem, with the first of four groups of Palestinian prisoners set to be released by Israel beforehand. Yediot Ahronot gives prominence to a meeting held yesterday by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu including senior ministers to discuss how to respond to new European Union (EU) funding guidelines that exclude Israeli entities in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights. It was decided that Israel will seek clarifications over the guidelines and look to find a formula acceptable to both sides before signing further agreements with the EU.

Meanwhile, Yediot Ahronot, Maariv, Sof Hashavua and Israel Hayom cover the closure of Eilat’s airport yesterday for two hours as a major item, following an unspecified security alert. However, Maariv speculates that the closure was the result of a threat from al-Qaeda.

Yediot Ahronot, Maariv, Haaretz and Israel Hayom all claim that Prime Minister Netanyahu favours the appointment of Argentina-born Prof Mario Blejer as the new Governor of the Bank of Israel. Netanyahu’s previous two nominees for the post, Jacob Frenkel and Leo Leiderman both withdrew their candidacies last week. Blejer is a former head of Argentina’s national bank and previously worked at the Bank of Israel.