In the UK media this morning, the BBC reports that the Assad regime has agreed to a six-point peace plan, brokered by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. The Times notes the order given by the IDF to a group of settlers in Hebron to evacuate a house they claim to have purchased legally. The Independent notes that Marwan Bargouthi, a Palestinian political leader serving five life sentences for his involvement in the second Intifada, has been placed in solitary confinement for a week after he called for a wave of civil resistance. The Times also reports the arrest of the Palestinian Olympic football team’s goalkeeper, after he shot at an IDF patrol in the West Bank.

The evacuation of the house in Hebron also leads the Israeli press, with Israel Radio reporting that the prime minister has asked Defence Minister Barak to delay its implementation and to allow the settlers to present their legal case in court. Yediot Ahronot reports that the prime minister faced a ‘pressure steamroller’ of representations from politicians yesterday to prevent the immediate evacuation of the building. Haaretz reports that a defence establishment assessment that a coordinated missile attack on Israel, including from Iran, would produce no more than 300 Israeli fatalities. Ynet notes comments in Cairo yesterday by Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas, in which he said that the PA was planning on renewing its campaign at the United Nations, and that he would send a letter to prime minister Netanyahu next week in which he blames Israel for making the PA into a ‘non-Authority’. The Jerusalem Post reports that new Kadima leader Shaul Mofaz is facing opposition from Likud in his demand to swap the chairmanship of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, which he currently holds, for the Economics Committee, headed by Carmel Shama’a of Likud. Although the Economics Committee is normally considered the junior position, socio-economic affairs are high on the national agenda at present and, particularly if elections are in sight, Likud is unwilling to relinquish the position.