The Financial Times, the Guardian, the Times and the Telegraph, as well as other news outlets, report this morning that US President Barack Obama has secured the votes required to implement the Iran deal. This was guaranteed yesterday with the announcement by Senator Barbara Mikulski – the democratic Senator from Maryland – that she would stand with the president. Mikulski is the 34^th senator to publicly back the deal, which means that Obama has secured enough support to ensure that his veto of an almost certain congressional vote to disapprove of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action will stand.

The Guardian reports that SodaStream is closing its West Bank factories in two weeks and relocating its production lines to Israel’s Negev Desert. Only 130 of the 600 of the Palestinians working in the West Bank plant will be able to work at the new facility, according to the report. Ali Jafar, a West Bank resident who worked for two years as a shift manager told the reporter: “All the people who wanted to close [SodaStream’s West Bank factory] are mistaken. … They didn’t take into consideration the families.”

Also in the Guardian, France is to close the inquiry into allegations that Yasser Arafat was murdered. Prosecutors from the court in Nanterre, near Paris, issued a statement in which they asserted: “it has not been demonstrated that Mr Yasser Arafat was murdered by polonium-210 poisoning.” Arafat’s widow, Suha, rejected the findings.

Today’s Independent i and Guardian say that Israel is considering giving its security forces a freer hand to target young Palestinian stone-throwers. Under standing orders, Israeli soldiers facing violent Palestinian protests can open fire with live bullets only in life-threatening situations. The current discussions may lead to a relaxing of these regulations because, as a statement from the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office says: “Since the justice system finds it difficult to deal with minors who throw rocks, changes to orders on opening fire towards stone and petrol bomb-throwers will be examined.”

The Times and the Telegraph cover the UN report mentioned in yesterday’s Daily Brief about the deterioration in the living conditions of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

The Telegraph also reports that Syrian television has broadcast photos that show Russian troops fighting alongside forces loyal to President Assad in Latakia. A Jabhat al-Nusra Twitter account also published photos that appear to show Russian planes and drones flying over Idlib, Syria. If true, these developments would indicate a significant escalation in the Kremlin’s involvement in the conflict in Syria. Meanwhile in Washington, for CIA director and commander of U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan David Petraeus is advocating that the US-led coalition partner with al-Qaeda associated parties in Syria, such as Jabhat al-Nusra, in order to defeat ISIS, this according to a report in the Times.

The IDF struck Hamas targets in Gaza last night in response to machine gun fire that struck homes in the Israeli Kibbutz of Nativ Ha’Asara near the Gaza border. This story is prominently featured in the various print and online Israeli news outlets including, Haaretz, Yediot Ahronot and Ynet, Maariv and NRG, and Israel Hayom. No injuries were reported and only minor damage was caused to property but the shooting is another in a series of incidents indicating the continued deterioration in the security situation around Gaza.

Also featuring centrally this morning is President Obama’s securing of required support for the Iran deal. Haaretz reporter Barak Ravid writes this morning that the Israeli Prime Minister’s actions vis-à-vis the Obama Administration regarding the Iran deal show that “Netanyahu understands nothing about [the] US in 2015”.

The Knesset approved both the state budget and the anti-terror bill that were brought to a first reading late last night in the parliament’s plenum. Also approved last night, according to NRG, was the highly controversial bill to disband and reconstitute the Israeli Broadcast Authority.

The ever-growing immigration crisis facing Europe in recent weeks is also receiving substantial coverage in the Israeli news with Haaretz, Ynet and others reporting on the deteriorating humanitarian situation and the tensions on the continent between Eastern and Western members of the EU.