Both the Financial Times and Guardian report that the nine-month deadline for concluding a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) passed yesterday without a deal having been reached. Both articles, plus a dedicated piece in the Times cover US Secretary of State John Kerry’s statement in which he expressed regret for having used the word “apartheid” in a private briefing, warning of the consequences for Israel if peace does not materialise. Kerry clarified that he does not consider Israel in any way an apartheid state and nor does he believe it intends to become one. The Independent and Independent i both cover a report issued yesterday by left-wing pressure group Peace Now, which noted an increase in tenders for construction in the West Bank during the past nine months. However, the report also indicated that actual construction of new housing had not sharply increased during this period.

The Guardian online says that Patrick Leahy, chairman of the US Senate sub-committee for overseas foreign aid, has said that he won’t approve funds destined for the Egyptian military. This follows what he described as the “sham trial” in an Egyptian court which this week sentenced more than 600 people, considered supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, to death for inciting violence and murdering a single policeman.

The Guardian also reports that a car bomb in Homs yesterday killed 36 people, exploding in an Alawite area of the city, identified with support for President Assad. The report also says that mortars, probably fired by opposition groups, struck an area of Damascus yesterday, killing an estimated 14 people. Meanwhile, the Telegraph publishes the results of independent tests which it commissioned, showing that Assad’s forces have used crude chlorine and ammonia chemical bombs against civilians since February. The Guardian online reports that the international body responsible for decommissioning Syria’s chemical arsenal is investigating the claims.

In the Israeli media, Haaretz, Maariv-NRG and Israel Hayom highlight the clarification provided by US Secretary of State John Kerry over his use of the word “apartheid” to illustrate the dangers facing Israel in the absence of peace. Meanwhile, yesterday’s expiration of the deadline for a peace agreement is a topic for commentary. Writing in Yediot Ahronot, Shimon Shiffer says that the United States is considering summoning both Israeli and Palestinian representatives to place the outline for a framework agreement before them. Meanwhile, in Maariv-NRG, Shalom Yerushalmi gloomily predicts that with negotiations having ended “all is lost” and “we are sinking into dark days,” adding, “I hope I am wrong about this.”

The appearance yesterday in court of former-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, at a hearing to determine his sentence following his conviction last month for bribery, is covered widely. It is a major item in Yediot Ahronot, Maariv-NRG and Israel Hayom, all reporting that Olmert yesterday continued to profess his innocence. Meanwhile, the state prosecutor requested that Olmert be sentenced to a minimum six year prison term.

Haaretz says that Israeli intelligence believes that the Assad regime is still hiding some of its chemical weapons arsenal, despite the cooperation of the Syrian government in handing over chemical stockpiles to an international body for their removal and disarmament.