The Guardian online reports that US Secretary of State John Kerry has arrived in Israel in a bid to boost peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA). Kerry is expected to meet today with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and PA President Mahmoud Abbas.

The Financial Times includes a feature on a serious fuel shortage in the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, which has left sewage untreated and necessitated daily power cuts. Egypt’s crackdown on the smuggling tunnels beneath the Gaza border, for fear that they are being used to transfer weapons into Sinai, is identified as the main reason behind the shortage. A Hamas official is quoted saying that the tunnels to Egypt were responsible for 90 per cent of Gaza’s fuel and construction materials.

The assassination of a senior Hezbollah military commander outside his home in Beirut is covered by the Times, Telegraph, Independent, Guardian, Independent i, Evening Standard and online edition of the Financial Times. Israel denied Hezbollah’s accusation that it was responsible for the killing and a previously unknown Sunni group later took responsibility for the shooting, indicating that it acted in response to Hezbollah fighting alongside President Assad’s regime in Syria.

The online editions of the Times and Telegraph claim that Western officials, including British representatives have met with Islamist opposition groups in Syria, in an attempt to persuade them to attend the Geneva II peace talks scheduled for late January. Both articles suggest that such talks constitute recognition that Islamist groups have gained the upper hand on secular and pro-democratic elements of the Syrian opposition. Meanwhile, the Guardian online says a delicate US-Danish operation is being planned to ship Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile out of the country for eventual dismantling.

The Guardian reports that Iran’s oil minister has named seven Western oil companies which he wants to see back in the country’s oil and gas fields once international sanctions against Tehran have been eased. The companies named include BP.

The online edition of the Guardian includes a feature on the new draft constitution in Egypt which citizens are being asked to consider. The article questions whether the new draft is significantly different from the constitution compiled by the Muslim Brotherhood government which sparked protests and its eventual ultimate downfall.

Both the Independent i and Metro report that Israeli actress and former Miss Israel winner, Gal Gadot has been selected to play Wonder Woman in the new Warner Brothers superhero film, alongside Ben Affleck.

In the Israeli media, John Kerry’s visit to Israel today has prompted several stories surrounding the peace process. Makor Rishon speculates that Kerry will present Prime Minister Netanyahu with a security proposal for the Jordan Valley in the event of a peace agreement. Maariv says that Jordan will tell the United States that it supports a continued IDF presence in the Jordan Valley if a deal is agreed, as opposed to Palestinian forces or an international presence on its western border.

Meanwhile, public comments made yesterday by former-Shin Bet chief Yuval Diskin is the top story in Yediot Ahronot and is also covered prominently by Maariv and Haaretz. Diskin criticised the government for its policy on settlements and Palestinian prisoners and said that the failure to resolve the conflict with the Palestinians was more of an existential threat towards Israel than Iran’s nuclear development.

The assassination in Beirut of a top Hezbollah military commander is also a major item. Haaretz and Makor Rishon highlight Israel’s denial that it was behind the shooting, as claimed by Hezbollah. Maariv describes the assassination as the “most painful blow” to Hezbollah in several years, while Israel Hayom simply calls it a “mysterious assassination.”