The Independent i reports that three Palestinians attempted to stab Israeli soldiers at the Gush Etzion junction in the southern West Bank yesterday and were shot dead before being able to injure their targets. In a similar incident yesterday, a Palestinian launched a knife attack on a soldier near Hebron and was also shot dead. Both locations have been flashpoints for stabbings and other attacks since the current wave of violence began in October, killing at least 23 Israelis.

The Telegraph, Times and Metro all cover an attack yesterday by gunmen in Egypt’s capital Cairo, on a tour bus near the Pyramids. The bus included a number of Israeli Arab tourists. No injuries were reported and Egyptian authorities said that the attack was aimed at security guards rather than the tourists.

The Guardian online covers comments made by US Secretary of State John Kerry, who said yesterday that Iran may be “days away” from complying with July’s long-term nuclear deal, which would trigger the lifting of many international sanctions against Tehran.

Meanwhile, the Guardian and the online edition of the Telegraph both report the continuing Iran-Saudi tensions following the execution of a Shia cleric by Saudi authorities and the ransacking of the Saudi embassy in Tehran. Iran claimed yesterday that Saudi jets had attacked its embassy in Sa’ana, the capital of Yemen. The civil war in Yemen is one of the regional proxy conflicts between the two countries.

The Times, Sun and the online edition of the Telegraph all cover the attempt by Syrian government forces, supported by Hezbollah fighters to starve around 40,000 residents of Madaya, a rebel-held town near the Lebanese border. The reports say that the Assad regime has agreed to allow entry for limited United Nations aid. Despite this, a Times editorial says that Assad must abandon the strategy of starvation, which is far from limited to Madaya and suggests that the RAF consider dropping supplies for malnourished civilians.

In the Israeli media, the top story in Maariv, which is also covered prominently in Yediot Ahronot, is the announcement yesterday that Israeli security forces apprehended a six-person Hamas terror cell in Jerusalem and Hebron, which planned to kidnap and murder an Israeli citizen and use the body as a bargaining chip to release Palestinian prisoners. The group apparently had a detailed plan to carry out the abduction, including having designated a cave near Hebron in which to hide the body. Commenting in Yediot Ahronot, Yossi Yehoshua says that, “Hamas is trying to rear its head in Judea and Samaria [West Bank].”

The main item in Israel Hayom, also a major focus in Maariv, is two separate stabbing incidents in the West Bank yesterday. In both cases, the attack was thwarted and the assailants shot dead. Three attackers attempted to stab soldiers at the Gush Etzion junction of the West Bank, while a similar incident took place near Hebron. Meanwhile, Israel Radio news reports that a 16-year-old Arab from East Jerusalem was arrested yesterday in the capital in possession of a knife, acting suspiciously and is thought to have been planning a knife attack.

Haaretz claims that Egypt has asked Israel to ensure that Turkey does not gain a foothold of influence in the Gaza Strip, as a result of current reconciliation talks with Israel.