This morning’s Guardian, Times and Independent i all report on yesterday evening’s vote by the Likud Party central committee which comfortably approved the creation of a joint electoral list with Yisrael Beitenu in advance of Israeli elections in January. The unified ticket looks poised to be elected as the country’s largest bloc, putting the two parties in prime position to form the basis of the next Israeli government.

Both the Telegraph and Guardian cover a report released today by a coalition of 22 NGOs, which claims that the European Union (EU) imports fifteen times more from Israeli settlements than from Palestinians in the West Bank. The NGO report says that this is inconsistent with EU policy, which does not recognise the legitimacy of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and calls on EU member states to issue stricter guidelines.

The Telegraph also reports that an Iranian naval task force docked in Sudan yesterday in what Sudanese officials called a gesture of “peace and friendship.” The Iranian convoy arrived in Sudan just days after the Sudanese government accused Israel of destroying an arms factory near the capital Khartoum. Israel has refused to comment on the incident, but there has been speculation of Israeli concern that Iran is manufacturing weapons in Sudan. Meanwhile, the Independent i reports on a claim by the head of the Iranian parliament’s defence committee that a Hezbollah drone, which entered Israeli airspace earlier this month, has allowed Iran to obtain images of sensitive Israeli military bases.

The online editions of the Guardian, Times,  , Financial Times and Independent all repo on the continuing violence in Syria. Yesterday, Syrian government warplanes launched some of the heaviest air strikes yet in Damascus, a large car bomb exploded just outside the capital and heavy fighting erupted in the northern city of Aleppo. It had been hoped that a four-day truce in the 19-month-old conflict, which had been agreed last week, would bring a respite to the violence over the weekend.

In the Israeli media, domestic headlines are focused on the approval given yesterday evening by the Likud Central Committee of a joint electoral ticket in partnership with Yisrael Beitenu. The vote, which was viewed as an important victory for Prime Minister Netanyahu is covered prominently in Maariv, Yediot Ahronot, Haaretz, Makor Rishon and Israel Hayom. Writing in Maariv, Mazal Mualem comments that “This was not any ordinary victory for Netanyahu, this was an essential victory at the start of the election campaign.” Maariv also reports that its own columnist Ofer Shelah has resigned in order to join Yesh Atid. Party leader Yair Lapid is set to make a speech this evening to outline his party’s foreign and security policy in which he is expected to say that Israel should retain major settlement blocs but evacuate smaller settlements as part of any future agreement with the Palestinians. Meanwhile, Haaretz publishes an extensive interview with former top White House official Dennis Ross, who argues that the two-state solution is not dead and that whoever wins upcoming US presidential election is likely to launch a major diplomatic initiative with Iran.