All UK daily broadsheets report the announcement by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that early elections will be held possibly as soon as January 2013. The Guardian, Telegraph, Financial Times, Independent i and the online editions of the Times and Independent report Netanyahu’s announcement yesterday evening, commenting that his Likud Party is expected to win the upcoming poll, particularly with the centre-left opposition fractured. Most reports predict that national security and the economy will be the main campaign issues.  The Telegraph reports that Israel is unlikely to launch an imminent attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities. Citing a report from Haaretz, the article claims that the latest Israeli intelligence assessments predict that Iran’s efforts to produce a nuclear weapon have been delayed by eight months. Meanwhile, the Independent and its sister publication Independent i both include articles detailing an imminent cash crisis for the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the West Bank. The PA has reportedly warned 150,000 employees, including police, doctors and teachers that they do not know when their September salaries will be paid, with international donors having provided just 40 per cent of the aid pledged for 2012.

The Independent online also reports that PA President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday told European diplomats that he intends to return to peace talks with Israel following a UN vote to upgrade the status of the Palestinian delegation, which is scheduled for November. Abbas made no mention of a freeze on West Bank construction as a pre-condition to peace talks, which has previously been an obstacle to negotiations with Israel. Both the BBC online and Independent i report the appointment of a new Jordanian ambassador to Israel after the post had been left vacant for two years. The BBC report mentions that the new ambassador, Walid Obeidat had been heavily pressured by his own clan to reject the appointment. The Independent i also includes a brief item on Israel’s deployment of a battery of Patriot missiles in the northern city of Haifa, which comes two days after an unarmed drone entered Israeli air space, which is widely believed to have been launched by Hezbollah from Lebanon.

Several dailies report on the ongoing violence in Syria. The online editions of the Telegraph and the Times report a double suicide bomb attack on Monday at a military compound on the edge of Damascus. The Independent claims that the attack was accompanied by a warning from Syrian rebels that Hezbollah will also be targeted should they continue to support Syria’s President Assad. Meanwhile, the online editions of the Guardian and Financial Times emphasise the continued tension along the Syria-Turkey border. Both report a pledge by NATO’s Secretary General to protect Turkey if necessary.

The Guardian online reports a wholesale pardon announced by Egyptian President Mohammed Mursi, for all those convicted of crimes relating to the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak. The report speculates that the pardon is an attempt by Mursi to reach out to Egypt’s secular youth.

In Israel, the media is dominated by the announcement of early elections, with speculation that the poll will take place on either 22 or 29 January. The upcoming elections are the headline story in all daily newspapers. Makor Rishon speculates that the campaign might include a television debate for the first time. Meanwhile, writing in Yediot Ahronot, Nahum Barnea argues that Netanyahu is all but assured of victory, the only question being who will enter his coalition. However, Maariv devotes significant space to the possible return of former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to the political arena and Ben Caspit writes that Olmert is the only candidate “who can give him [Netanyahu] a real fight, as an equal, with an actual chance.” Israel Radio News reports that internal elections within the Likud Party, to determine their list of parliamentary candidates, could be held as early as next week. Meanwhile, in other news Israel Hayom reports that two grad missiles fired from the Gaza Strip fell last night near the southern Israeli town of Netivot. No injuries or damage were reported. Israel Radio News notes this morning that the Israel Air Force attacked a tunnel dug by Palestinian terrorists in the northern Gaza Strip in response.