The agreement to end a hunger strike by Palestinian prisoners is covered extensively in the UK press this morning. The Independent reports that the Israel made substantive concessions in a bid to end the strike, whilst the prisoners agreed to halt any terrorist activity from inside the prison. The Daily Telegraph carries comments from Israeli officials, who said that Israel had ‘gone the extra mile’ in an attempt to build confidence ahead of a possible re-start of talks with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. According to the Times, the agreement and the meeting over the weekend between Abbas and Yitzhak Molcho, prime minister Netanyahu’s envoy, are both intended to prepare the ground for renewed talks. The Financial Times notes tensions in Iran over the next round of six-power talks, scheduled for next week in Baghdad. Ali Akbar Javanfekr, a close advisor to Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, has criticised the ‘treacherous behaviour’ of the country’s chief negotiator Saed Jalili, himself a close ally of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Evening Standard adds its weight to the campaign for a minute’s silence at this summer’s Olympic games for the 11 Israeli athletes who were murdered at the 1972 Munich Olympics. The Independent trails an interview with Israeli author Aharon Appelfeld, the winner of the paper’s Foreign Fiction Prize, to be published in full on Saturday.

The Israeli media also focuses on the end of the hunger strike. According to Makor Rishon, the agreement is only one element of a ‘major initiative’ to restart talks with the Palestinians. During the meeting between Abbas and Molcho last week, Israel agreed to meet many of the hunger strikers’ demands, to release the bodies of 100 Fatah prisoners, and to consider a releasing Fatah prisoners convicted before the Oslo accords. However, according to Maariv, Netanyahu has not yet shifted his position on the core issues that remain to be resolved. Haaretz notes the strongly-worded statement by EU foreign ministers yesterday, which criticises Israeli policy in the West Bank. In response, the Israeli Foreign Ministry described the statement as ‘partial, biased and one-sided’. The Jerusalem Post reports that Iran has executed a man accused of spying for Israel. Maariv notes that the High Court of Justice will rule today on the fate of a house inhabited by Jewish settlers in Hebron. Yediot Ahronot reports that the Knesset yesterday appointed a new State Comptroller, Jerusalem District Court Judge Yaakov Shapira. However, the appointment was only approved after three rounds of secret voting, leading commentators to suggest that the enlarged government coalition may find it difficult to get agreement across such a broad political spectrum.