The Telegraph covers a report in yesterday’s Israeli daily Maariv, which claimed that Israel will propose a land swap which in the event of a peace deal, would see an area of northern Israel, heavily populated by Arab towns and villages included in a future Palestinian state, in return for major West Bank settlement blocs remaining in Israel. The article notes that the idea will likely be rejected by the Palestinian leadership and would also need the approval of Israel’s legal system.

The Financial Times says the future of the Jordan Valley is becoming an increasing point of tension between Israeli and Palestinian leaders. The report says that Israel’s Interior Minister Gideon Saar will today inaugurate a new neighbourhood there, while the Palestinian cabinet pointedly met in the region this week, with both looking to assert their claim on the area.

An editorial in the Guardian calls for an end to purposely even-handed criticism over the failure to achieve a peace agreement and argues that primary responsibility should be assigned to Israel and the United States as the Palestinians are the “aggrieved” and “weakest” party involved.

The condition of Israel’s former-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who has been in a coma since 2006, has taken a significant turn for the worse and that his life is in danger. The story is covered by the Guardian, Times, Telegraph, Daily Mirror and Metro.

The Independent online says that the NGO, the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel has released a report condemning alleged detention of Palestinian minors by the IDF in open cages. The article says that Israel’s Justice Minister Tzipi Livni has called for a halt to the practice.

An explosion in Prague yesterday which killed the Palestinian envoy to the Czech Republic is reported by the Guardian, Times, Telegraph, Independent, Metro, Independent i, Daily Mail, Daily Express, Sun, Daily Mirror and Daily Star. All reports say that Jamal al-Jamal was killed after he attempted to open a safe in his home, which exploded; although there is no suggestion that he was assassinated.

The Independent says that former-International Development Secretary Clare Short could be barred from entering Israel, after CEPR the Belgian organisation she chairs, which lobbies on behalf of Hamas, was declared an “illicit organisation” by Israel’s Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon.

The online edition of the Guardian reports a missile strike in the Syrian city of Aleppo killed at least 10 people yesterday. Writing in the Times, Roger Boyes argues that it is time for the West to help the victims of Syria’s Civil War and impose a no-fly zone to prevent such attacks. Meanwhile, in neighbouring Lebanon, the Guardian and Times report that Lebanese authorities say they have arrested the Saudi leader of an al-Qaeda affiliated group responsible for bombing the Iranian embassy in Beirut in November, which the perpetrators said was a warning for Iran and Hezbollah to halt their involvement in Syria.

In the Israeli media, the deterioration in the condition of former-Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is the main story, leading coverage in Yediot Ahronot, Maariv and Israel Hayom with predictions that he may have only a few days left to live.

Israel Radio news reports that US Secretary of State John Kerry will arrive in Israel today in his tenth visit to the region since the resumption of peace talks in July. Maariv and Yediot Ahronot say he is expected to present Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas with a draft framework agreement, which will suggest how core issues will be dealt with during the coming months, paving the way to extend talks beyond their current April deadline. Maariv also reports opposition by Arab MKs to suggestions yesterday that Israel will propose land swaps involving an area of Israel heavily populated by Arab villages and towns.

Meanwhile, Yediot Ahronot and Israel Radio news say that a secret PA security report predicts there will be a rise in Hamas-instigated terror attacks in the West Bank in 2014, including an attempt to launch rockets from the area.