The i briefly reports that a rocket was fired yesterday from the Gaza Strip into southern Israel and landed in the town of Sderot. Although no injuries were reported, the article says it was a “rare incident” in which Israel’s aerial defence system was penetrated.

The rocket fire and subsequent targeted Israeli air strikes on Hamas positions in Gaza are also mentioned in a piece which appears in the online editions of the Guardian and the Independent. The articles focus on the interception by Israel’s navy yesterday of a protest vessel which attempted to reach Gaza, in defiance of Israel’s blockade, designed to prevent weaponry from reaching the Hamas-controlled area. The protest ship carrying 13 women including a Swedish MEP was intercepted without incident before reaching the Gaza coast.

The Guardian online includes an article on sharp public criticism yesterday from both the White House and US State Department over Israeli plans to construct around 300 housing units in the West Bank. The White House press secretary said that the plans “contradict” the “public assurances from the Israeli government”.

The Guardian reports that the world’s oldest man, Yisrael Kristal, a 113-year-old Holocaust survivor who lives in Israel, recently celebrated his bar mitzvah. He missed the opportunity to celebrate the milestone as a 13-year-old due to the First World War.

The Financial Times says that the Israeli online payments platform, Payoneer, has raised £220m in one of the year’s biggest fintech funding rounds.

Meanwhile, the Financial Times online reports that Egypt’s President al-Sisi is increasingly deploying the army in order to tackle food distribution and shortages due to economic issues.

In the Israeli media, Israel Hayom leads with what it calls a “day of battle” around Gaza, after Israel Air Force jets struck strategic Hamas targets following rocket fire which landed in Sderot. Israel Radio news says that Hamas has relayed to Israel, via a third party that it does not wish to see an escalation in violence.

Meanwhile, the top story in both Yediot Ahronot and Maariv is the death of an Israeli pilot as he returned from a mission over Gaza yesterday. Deputy squadron leader, Maj. Ohad Cohen Nov, 34, ejected from his F-16 jet as it landed at the Ramon Air Base. It is unknown what malfunction caused him to abandon the aircraft, which burst into flames. A navigator who also ejected from the plane was lightly injured.

The top item in Haaretz, which is also covered prominently by Maariv and Israel Hayom is strong public criticism by United States’ officials yesterday over construction plans in the West Bank. The potential housing units in question are slated for the Shilo area and are intended to house those who are scheduled to be evicted from the Amona outpost later this year, following a High Court ruling. Israel Hayom and Israel Radio news both highlight the response from Israel’s Foreign Ministry, which said that the construction plans do not constitute a new settlement, but rather an expansion of an existing community. It added that Palestinian failure to recognise the Jewish state, not settlement construction, is the real obstacle to peace.

Maariv and Israel Radio news both prominently report that Israel’s Navy yesterday successfully and peacefully intercepted a protest boat heading for Gaza, which it then accompanied to the Israeli port of Ashdod. An Israeli security official is quoted saying that “media stunts like this… will not help rebuild the Gaza Strip”.