The Telegraph reports that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called a special meeting of his security cabinet to discuss the series of recent attacks on Israelis from the Gaza Strip. Earlier this week, a sniper killed an Israeli worker and several rockets were launched at southern Israel, prompting Israel’s Air Force to strike strategic targets in Gaza.

Meanwhile, the Independent i says that the recent spate of Palestinian attacks targeting Israelis in the West Bank and central Israel, including a bus bomb in a Tel Aviv suburb on Sunday, is raising concerns over a new Palestinian Intifada. The article notes that the incidents appear uncoordinated, but that the Shin Bet security agency has recorded a steady recent rise in the number of attacks.

The Telegraph online reports that Israel’s government is expected to announce construction plans for a number of new housing units in the West Bank in an apparent attempt to placate domestic opposition to the release of a third group of long-term Palestinian prisoners which is scheduled to take place next week.

Writing in the Times, former-Foreign Secretary Jack Straw says that although he supports Israel, he opposes the planning and development restrictions placed on Palestinian villagers in the West Bank in contrast with the opportunities available to Israeli settlers.

The Telegraph, Guardian, Independent, Times, Independent i, Sun and Daily Mail all cover a report by Russian scientists which concluded that former-Palestinian Authority (PA) President Yasser Arafat died of natural causes, the same conclusion recently reached by French scientists too. A Swiss team of toxicologists last month concluded a separate investigation and said there was “moderate” evidence that Arafat’s death in 2004 had been caused by polonium poisoning.

The online editions of the Guardian, Financial Times and Telegraph report that a bus bomb exploded north of Egypt’s capital Cairo yesterday, injuring five people. The attack came just a day after Egypt’s military rulers had declared the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation. Although Islamist groups have attacked Egyptian security forces with regularity during recent months, yesterday’s bus bomb was the first apparent targeting of civilians.

The Financial Times says that Russia and Syria have agreed a deal over oil exploration and drilling in Syrian territorial waters. The article suggests that the agreement bolsters the position of the Assad regime and further entrenches Russia’s strategic involvement in the region.

The Independent, Telegraph and Independent i all cover Pope Francis’ Christmas speech in which he called for general world peace and specifically expressed hope that the dialogue between Israel and the PA would reach a “favourable outcome.” In his Christmas sermon, according to the Guardian, Telegraph, Daily Express, Independent i and Daily Star, Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby highlighted the plight of persecuted Christians in the Middle East and lamented the “injustices in Palestine and Israel, where land is taken or rockets are fired.”

In the Israeli media, Sof Hashavua leads with opposition from the families of terror victims towards the planned release of a third group in the overall release of 104 Palestinian prisoners, which Israel agreed in July in order to pave the way for the resumption of peace talks. Israel Hayom says that the release, originally scheduled for Sunday could be delayed by a day or two due to technical issues. Meanwhile, Yediot Ahronot highlights the expected announcement of West Bank construction plans to dovetail the prisoner release, in an attempt to placate political opposition towards it. The article says that plans will be announced for 1,500 housing units in Jerusalem and the major settlement blocs, which most assume will remain part of Israel in a final peace deal. However, Yediot Ahronot says that ministers including Yesh Atid’s Yair Lapid and MKs on the right-wing of Likud have both criticised linking construction with the prisoner release.

Israel Radio News reports that Israel’s Air Force carried out a targeted strike last night against strategic sites in the Gaza Strip after two rockets had been fired into Israel during a 24-hour period.

Meanwhile, Yediot Ahronot, Haaretz and Sof Hashavua highlight a court decision yesterday which ordered new municipal elections in Beit Shemesh, ruling that October’s poll had been marred by massive fraud. The election developed into a close race between Beit Shemesh’s incumbent ultra-Orthodox mayor and a secular opponent, in what was viewed by many as a vote to determine the future character of the city.