Several UK dailies report on yesterday’s visit by the Emir of Qatar to the Gaza Strip. The Guardian, Times, Telegraph, Independent, Financial Times and Independent i all comment that Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani became the first head of state to visit the Gaza Strip since Hamas violently took control of the territory in 2007. Most of the articles include quotes from Israeli and Palestinian Authority officials criticising the emir’s visit for legitimising Hamas rule. The Financial Times and Independent reports also note the continued violence in the Gaza region yesterday as the Israel Air Force hit Hamas targets in response to an explosion that wounded an Israeli officer on a routine patrol.  Meanwhile, the Independent and Independent i plus the online editions of the Guardian and the Telegraph all carry articles on a report which was published in yesterday’s Haaretz, which summarised the findings of a poll indicating that significant numbers of Israeli Jews are in favour of discriminatory policies against the country’s Arab citizens, who make up roughly 20 per cent of Israel’s population.

Elsewhere in the region, the online edition of the Financial Times reports that the Lebanese army has arranged a ceasefire between Sunni and Shia gunmen in the country’s northern city of Tripoli, while the military has also removed barricades set up by armed protesters in the Lebanese capital Beirut. Violence had flared up over the weekend following the killing of a senior intelligence official considered to be a fierce opponent of Syrian influence in the country. The Independent reports that Lebanon’s Prime Minister has rebuffed calls to refer the investigation into the killing to an international tribunal. The online edition of the Independent reports that a United Nations-brokered ceasefire in Syria is looking increasingly unlikely to take hold, after government warplanes struck a strategic town in the north of the country held by opposition forces. Meanwhile, the Evening Standard includes an analysis warning of the regional dangers of Syrian violence spilling over into neighbouring Lebanon.

In the Israeli media, Yediot Ahronot leads with the continuing violence in Gaza and the injuries suffered by Capt. Ziv Shilon, an IDF officer who was wounded yesterday by an explosive at the Gaza border fence. Haaretz and Makor Rishon also make this one of their top stories. Israel Hayom focuses on yesterday’s visit by the Emir of Qatar to the Gaza Strip, the first by a head of state since Hamas seized power in Gaza in 2007. There is also a prominent report on the trip in Makor Rishon. Some reports suggest that the Qatari funds pledged by the emir during his trip will be used to construct housing for Palestinians freed in the Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange last year. Yoel Guzansky comments on the visit in Maariv, noting that Fatah officials regard it as harmful to the prospects of Palestinian unity. Meanwhile, Maariv publishes a story that Prime Minister Netanyahu is evading participation in a televised debate ahead of January’s elections. Other party leaders have reportedly agreed in principle to the idea.