The online edition of the Guardian reports the death of a Palestinian intelligence officer yesterday in the West Bank town of Qalqilya, after he fired at Israeli forces sent to arrest him. In a similar incident in Jenin the previous evening, Israeli soldiers came under fire while attempting to arrest a terror suspect. A Hamas member was killed in the ensuing clashes.

The Telegraph, Financial Times and online edition of the Guardian all cover the announcement yesterday by a bipartisan group of US Senators that they will introduce legislation to impose new sanctions on Iran should Tehran break the terms of the interim nuclear deal agreed with the P5+1 powers (US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany) in Geneva last month. The White House has appealed to Senators to refrain from such legislation for fear that it will lead to a breakdown in talks with Iran. However, all reports say that a vote on the bill won’t take place until at least next month, although it is unclear whether there is support for it among legislators and the White House has threatened to veto the measure.

The Telegraph reports that an unnamed State Department official has said the United States did hold secret talks with Iran following the election of President Rouhani this summer, but that Saudi anger over the covert contacts is unjustified as the end goal could benefit the entire region, including Saudi Arabia.

The Times online says Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister has taken the rare step of rebuking Syria’s President Assad over his talk of re-election, as it could jeopardise the proposed Geneva II peace talks next month. Meanwhile, the Telegraph online reports that the leader of the opposition group in Syria most closely linked to al-Qaeda has given a rare interview, in which he rejected the legitimacy of the Geneva II talks and said the Syrian civil war is a battle between Sunni and Shi’ite power which is almost won.

In Egypt, two sons of former-President Hosni Mubarak and the country’s last Prime Minister during the Mubarak era have all been acquitted of charges linked to corruption, in what the online editions of the Guardian and the Times suggest is further evidence that Egypt is returning to its old military order.

In the Israeli media this morning, Haaretz says Hamas is attempting to re-establish terror cells in the West Bank. The terror organisation is reportedly deploying former prisoners, released by Israel in the deal to free kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit in 2011, to spearhead this effort.

Yediot Ahronot reports that US Ambassador Dan Shapiro met with Shas leader Aryeh Deri to gauge his support for a possible peace deal, in the event that Israel’s coalition government changes over opposition to an agreement. Maariv covers comments made by Jewish Home leader and Economics Minister Naftali Bennett, who said his party will leave the coalition if it believes an “Oslo III” is in the works. Yediot Ahronot also suggests that the United States will ask Israel to evacuate Jordan Valley settlements as part of an eventual peace deal.

Maariv says that during a meeting between the two leaders last month, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin promised Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he would block efforts to convene an international conference on ridding the Middle East of nuclear weapons; for fear that it would become a forum to target Israel.

Meanwhile, Israel Hayom, Sof Hashavua and Yediot Ahronot also highlight the decision yesterday by a Tel Aviv court to sentence former-Bank Hapoalim chairman Dan Dankner to a one-year prison sentence, having been convicted of fraud and breach of trust.