With US President Obama having pledged to bring a potential military strike against the Assad regime to Congress, the Financial Times, Times, Daily Mail and the online edition of the Guardian report that US Secretary of State John Kerry yesterday announced new evidence of Assad’s use of Sarin nerve gas. Kerry also urged Congress to consider the security of regional allies such as Israel and Jordan. The Guardian provides an overview of international reaction to Obama’s referral to Congress, including the absence of an official Israeli response. However, it does include comments made by Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett who said that Obama’s hesitance underscored Israeli isolation. The Times says that Syrian opposition groups have slammed America’s “retreat.” The online editions of the Independent and Telegraph report that French President Francois Hollande is under pressure to refer his support for military action to parliament, while a French report claims that Assad has one thousand tonnes of chemical weapons at his disposal. The Financial Times online reports that the Arab League yesterday urged international action against Assad if sanctioned by the United Nations. The Telegraph says that there are fears of a hike in oil prices due to the crisis over Syria.

An editorial in the Telegraph argues that the big geo-political winner from Western indecision over Syria is Russia’s President Vladimir Putin. The Guardian’s editorial says that Obama’s wish to consult with Congress is a positive development, but concedes that it is a decision that could yet backfire as it could lead to complete Western disengagement from the horrors of Syria. In the Independent, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown celebrates what she views as the end of the ‘special relationship’ between the UK and United States owing to discord over Syria. Alibhai-Brown criticises what she views as an inherently unequal relationship which she claims is rooted in a British debt towards the US over the Second World War.

Meanwhile, the Times and the Guardian report that ousted Egyptian premier Mohammed Morsi will be sent to trial for acts of violence and incitement to kill. He is also accused of having conspired with Hamas.

In the Israeli media, the weekend’s diplomatic developments over Syria are the focus of this morning’s headlines. Israel Hayom sums up concerns that Western hesitancy over Syria will be repeated over Iran’s nuclear development, with the headline “Seeing Syria, Thinking Iran.” Eli Bardenstein reflects similar concerns in Maariv, saying “American hesitation to act in Syria sends a message to Iran that the US will not take military action to stop its nuclear program.” Haaretz claims that President Obama secretly informed Prime Minister Netanyahu ahead of his announcement, that an attack on Syria would be delayed. Meanwhile, Maariv suggests that there are behind the scenes talks taking place between the United States, Syria and Russia over dismantling Assad’s chemical weapons capability.

Maariv also includes a report this morning that Egypt is building an extensive security buffer along its border with the Gaza Strip, which is ruled by Hamas. This will also entail the wholesale destruction of tunnels from Gaza into the Sinai Peninsula, which Egyptian military authorities suspect are responsible for an influx of weapons and fighters into the troubled area in which tension and violence has increased over recent months.

Israel Radio news reports that Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul has invited the charge d’affairs at the Israeli embassy in Ankara to an official reception to mark the end of the Turkish war of independence. It is the first time in three years that an Israeli diplomat has been invited to the event, in what Turkish media reports say is a signal of improved relations between the two countries.