The Financial Times claims that Israel has purchased around 19 million barrels of Kurdish oil between May and August this year, constituting 77 per cent of Israel’s oil demand. Although Kurdish officials denied selling oil to Israel, the article suggests that the purchase is Israel’s covert way of supporting the Kurdish people.

The Independent i covers reports in the Palestinian media that Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas has stood down as head of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), the historic umbrella body of the Palestinian independence movement. Abbas’s resignation would not impact his role as PA President.

The Telegraph, Guardian, Independent, Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, Sun, Metro and the online edition of the Financial Times all cover yesterday’s re-opening of the UK Embassy in Iran’s capital Tehran. The mission was closed four years ago after a pro-government mob ransacked the embassy. Foreign Secretary Phillip Hammond conducted yesterday’s ceremony in the presence of Iran’s Foreign Minister Zarif, calling it the start of an “exciting” new journey. However, all reports note that graffiti from four years ago, declaring “death to England” was still visible above the embassy’s portrait of The Queen. Meanwhile, the Guardian covers yesterday’s simultaneous re-opening of the Iranian embassy in Kensington. Dignitaries included Foreign Office official Deborah Bronnert and former-Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.

The Independent i says that around 50 protestors gathered outside the UK Embassy in Tehran hours after the re-opening ceremony and chanted anti-UK and anti-US slogans. Meanwhile, the Times says that Human Rights Watch has warned that the UK Embassy in Tehran must not prioritize business relations over addressing Iran’s poor human rights record.

A Telegraph editorial says that the UK may have “moved too fast” in normalizing relations with Iran. The Times’s editorial broadly concurs, cautioning the government to reach out to the Iranian people, while remaining sceptical of the Tehran regime. The Independent’s editorial says that prospects for UK-Iran relations haven’t been this bright since the Shah, but that the two sides have been largely drawn closer together due to the fear of ISIS.

In Syria, the online editions of the Guardian and Telegraph say that ISIS has destroyed an historic temple in Palmyra, dating back to 17 AD.

The online editions of the Telegraph and Independent cover unrest in Lebanon’s capital Beirut. Large crowds gathered to protest poor governance, sparked by huge amounts of uncollected rubbish. Lebanese security forces eventually used tear gas, water cannon and rubber bullets against the protestors.

The Independent online includes a feature on disgruntled supporters of Israeli football team Beitar Jerusalem, where a section of supporters have a growing reputation for intolerance and violence. The disaffected fans have set up their own team Beitar Nordia, which includes Israeli Arab players.

In the Israeli media, the top story in Maariv, which is also a major focus for Yediot Ahronot and Israel Hayom, is the recordings which were aired over the weekend by Channel Two, in which former-Defence Minister Ehud Barak claimed that political indecision prevented Israel from launching military action against Iran’s nuclear facilities on three occasions between 2010 and 2012. The recordings, which were made in conversation with the authors of a new biography on Barak also included disparaging comments about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Writing in Yediot Ahronot, Nahum Barnea says, “Barak is the kind of person you don’t want to be driving behind on the road … It is unlikely that we will ever know whether he really wanted a military operation.”

Israel Hayom leads with a decision by the High Court yesterday, which upheld a petition by Yesh Atid that a full-time health minister must be appointed. Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman of United Torah Judaism (UTJ) currently effectively runs the ministry as a deputy, as his ultra-Orthodox party is not in favour of a ministerial position for ideological reasons. Maariv also covers this item, as does Israel Radio news, which says that UTJ will likely relent and approve Litzman’s ministerial appointment.