Israel’s release late last night of twenty six long-term Palestinian prisoners convicted of involvement in the murder of Israelis, is covered by the online editions of the Guardian and Telegraph this morning. The move was part of an overall prisoner release which paved the way for the resumption of peace talks in July. Both articles note that the Israeli families of the prisoners’ victims launched a failed last-minute High Court appeal against the release and that the prisoners were welcomed jubilantly as national heroes by Palestinians.

The Independent reports that for the first time since the outbreak of the Syrian Civil War, the Lebanese army fired anti-aircraft guns at Syrian government helicopters which violated Lebanese airspace. The incident took place near the East Lebanese town of Arsal. The article suggests that the Lebanese response was a sign of growing determination to prevent the Syrian conflict spreading into Lebanon.

The Telegraph online says that the Danish and Norwegian vessels slated to receive a stockpile of Syrian chemical weapons to be transported to an Italian port for future dismantlement, have returned to dock in Cyprus. They will miss the December 31 deadline for removing the stocks of mustard and sarin gas in question, as agreed by the Assad regime earlier this year, with bad weather and the continued armed conflict apparent reasons behind the delay.

The online edition of the Telegraph also reports that former-Foreign Secretary Jack Straw will head a delegation of four MPs to visit Iran next week. Straw described the trip as an “important” indication of the desire to improve UK-Iran relations following the election of President Rouhani this summer. The other delegates are former-Chancellor of the Exchequer Norman Lamont and backbenchers Ben Wallace and Jeremy Corbyn. Meanwhile the Times has a letter from Israeli Ambassador Daniel Taub rejecting accusations from Jack Straw about Israeli policy towards Palestinian Arabs residing in unregulated dwellings in the South Hebron hills.

Both the Guardian and the online edition of the Times say that Egyptian security forces have arrested four Al-Jazeera journalists on suspicion of “spreading false news” and meeting with the Muslim Brotherhood, which Egypt’s rulers last week branded a terror organisation. Al-Jazeera is perceived as sympathetic towards the Muslim Brotherhood and the arrests are viewed by many as a further sign of a crackdown on all opposition by Egypt’s military rulers.

The main item in the Israeli media this morning is the release last night of a third group of twenty six Palestinian prisoners since the resumption of peace talks in July. It is the lead story in Israel Hayom, Makor Rishon and Yediot Ahronot, which highlights opposition to the release with the headline “The release and the protest.” The reports quote comments made by Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas, who said that there will be no peace agreement until all Palestinian prisoners are released. Maariv focuses on a different aspect of the story, claiming that Prime Minister Netanyahu has told US Secretary of State John Kerry that Arab citizens of Israel who have been imprisoned for terror offences will not be part of an expected fourth and final prisoner release.

Kerry meanwhile is expected to arrive in Israel later this week to meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders in an attempt to push peace talks forward. Both Yediot Ahronot and Israel Hayom report that Kerry will present a draft framework agreement, which he hopes will pave the way for talks to continue beyond the nine-month deadline originally set. Meanwhile, the financial publication Calcalist reports comments made by government ministers at a conference it organised yesterday. Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon warned against the potential collapse of a future Palestinian state, while Justice Minister Tzipi Livni described the claim of those who say there is no Palestinian partner for peace as a “fool’s jubilation” and termed the conflict “the Israeli economy’s glass ceiling.”

Meanwhile, Israel Radio news reports that a rocket was fired from the Gaza Strip last night which landed in the Shar Hanegev region, causing no injuries or damage.