The Telegraph, Times, Guardian, Independent and Metro all cover the revelation yesterday, after a gag order was lifted, that two Israeli citizens are missing in the Gaza Strip. Both made their way into Gaza from Israel seemingly on their own initiative. One of the men, from Ashkelon, just miles from Gaza is reported to have a history of psychological issues. The other is an unnamed Bedouin man from the south of the country. Hamas claims that it interrogated and then released the man from Ashkelon. Israel holds Hamas responsible for the fate of two men. In addition, Hamas is known to hold the bodies of two Israeli soldiers killed in Operation Protective Edge last summer.

The Financial Times reports the ongoing difficulties surrounding the regulation of Israel’s natural gas industry. Two gas drilling companies have pioneered its development and have recently come to an agreement with the government over the financial terms of the industry’s future. However, opponents accuse the government of selling the country’s natural resources to tycoons.

The Times covers a resolution proposed by three Arab countries, which has been adopted at UNESCO accusing Israel of damaging Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem through excavations and other work. Director General of Israel’s Foreign Ministry Dore Gold is quoted calling the resolution “misplaced and hypocritical.”

The ongoing nuclear talks in Vienna between Iran and the P5+1 powers (US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany) are covered by the Times, Guardian and Financial Times. All report that a third deadline to agree a long-term deal has been missed although US Secretary of State John Kerry has said that the negotiations are not open-ended. All reports say that the major point of disagreement is over an eleventh hour Iranian demand to end a United Nations arms embargo.

The Guardian, Times and the online edition of the Independent all cover a United Nations report which says that one sixth of the Syrian population has fled the country during the civil war and that the rate of refugees has peaked during the last ten months. Meanwhile, the Telegraph online says that Syrian government forces are battling ISIS on the outskirts of the historic city of Palmyra.

In the Israeli media, the focus is fully on the two missing Israelis in the Gaza Strip. It is the top story in Yediot Ahronot, Maariv, Haaretz and Israel Hayom which focuses on apparent insistence by Israeli officials that terrorists will not be released from prison in return for the missing men.

There is plenty of commentary on the story, much of it focusing on a conversation which took place between the family of one of the men, Avera Mengistu and the prime minister’s representative, who appeared to intimidate the family and threaten that Mengistu would remain captive for another year if they publicly comment on the story. Israel Radio news says that the official apologised yesterday to the family. Yediot Ahronot’s Sima Kadmon says, “I cannot recall a conversation as repulsive as the one we heard yesterday” which was broadcast by Channel Ten. Meanwhile, Maariv’s Ben Caspit asks why the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee was not updated on the affair. Also in Maariv, Alon Ben-David says it is a worrying sign that Hamas has distanced itself from Mengistu, insisting that he is not in their hands any longer, casting doubt on his actual fate.

Meanwhile, Israel Radio news reports that a stabbing was prevented in Jerusalem yesterday evening. A 17-year-old Palestinian drew a knife when approaching a Border Police roadblock, but dropped the weapon when the officers cocked their guns.