The Guardian online reports that Israeli authorities have arrested a 30-year-old American Christian man from Texas, who was plotting to blow up Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem. The last several months has seen serious unrest in Jerusalem including several deadly terror attacks on Israelis, with holy sites such as the Temple Mount a major point of contention.

The Telegraph covers a new report by Amnesty International, which accuses Israel of having committed “war crimes” during the last days of Operation Protective Edge during the summer, when four residential buildings were destroyed. Although there were no deaths, Amnesty says the destruction amounts to “collective punishment.” The article includes a response from Israel’s Embassy in London which questioned why Amnesty is investigating the monetary loss of Gazans while failing to report on Hamas’s deliberate targeting and killing of Israeli civilians.

The Telegraph online covers the recognition as an observer member afforded this week by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to the “Palestinian state.” Although in practice a relatively small procedural step, Palestinian leaders have hailed the decision as another step towards full recognition at the ICC, a move strongly opposed by Israel and the United States.

The Independent and Independent i include a feature on a legal struggle in Israel between the national library and a leader of the historic Damascus Jewish community now living in Israel. The dispute centres on the fate of a series of historic ancient Hebrew bibles, known as the “Crown of Damascus” which were smuggled out of Syria into Israel during the 1990s. The community leader claims custodianship over the manuscripts, to be housed in a museum which is yet to be built.

The Telegraph reports that a 22-year-old Israeli man was stabbed at the ultra-Orthodox Lubavitch world headquarters in New York yesterday. There is no suggestion that the victim was singled out as an Israeli. Law enforcement officers arrived at the scene and shot the attacker, who died of his wounds.

The Times includes a feature on a UK surgeon with extensive experience in conflict zones, who says that 70 per cent of casualties in Syria are children. Meanwhile, the Telegraph online reports that aid agencies have criticised the government for not doing enough to re-settle Syrian refugees in comparison to other European countries.

In the Israeli media, both Yediot Ahronot and Haaretz lead with a key vote within the Likud Party today which is widely viewed as a test of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s strength. A secret ballot of party members will determine whether Netanyahu’s proposal is adopted to bring forward the date of a leadership primary, viewed as a move to complicate the potential candidacy of former minister Gideon Sa’ar. Netanyahu also wants to combine the leadership vote with primaries for the Likud parliamentary candidate’s list, on which he proposes to reserve specific slots for candidates of his choice.

Meanwhile, a Channel Ten poll indicates that a joint Labour-Hatnuah electoral list would be the largest Knesset faction. This appeared to confirm the findings of a Maariv poll earlier this week. However, the Channel Ten poll also indicated Labour leader Isaac Herzog closing in on Netanyahu when respondents were asked who is the most suitable prime ministerial candidate.

Israel Hayom leads with comments made by US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro, who said that in his final two years in office, President Obama will continue to push peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

Meanwhile, Maariv highlights Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon’s comments yesterday in which he said “we can go anywhere, anytime, in any way” in order to stop anyone “who tries to arm our enemies.” His comments are being interpreted as a tacit admission that Israel carried out air strikes in Syria on Sunday to prevent a weapons transfer to Hezbollah.