BBC News, The Guardian, Sky News, The Financial Times, and Reuters all report that Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has outlined proposals for the future governance of Gaza once the war between Israel and Hamas is over. There would, he said, be limited Palestinian rule in the territory. Hamas would no longer control Gaza and Israel would retain overall security control, he added. The Telegraph also reports that Yoav Gallant said on Thursday that that there is only a “short window” of time for a United States-led diplomatic push to secure Hezbollah’s removal from its border and prevent a new front opening in the north.

The Economist releases an article attacking Benjamin Netanyahu, saying he should be sacked as “Israel is making blunders that undermine its own security”.

Sky News and The Financial Times both report that fears are mounting there could be an escalation between Hezbollah and Israel.

The Guardian reports that Israel will defend itself against a South African-brought claim of genocidal intent at the UN’s International Court of Justice next week. The Telegraph adds that British barrister, Professor Malcolm Shaw KC, will represent and defend Israel.

The Telegraph publishes a piece saying: “Israel’s enemies are in no position to become involved in a direct conflict, knowing that, if they did so, they would be roundly defeated.”

The Telegraph also reports that the IDF has said it is dismantling Hamas command and control centres in Khan Younis. Col Mickey Sharvit, commander of the Kiryati Brigade, said there was “no innocent infrastructure” in the areas in which the IDF is operating amid mounting calls for the Israeli military to do more to safeguard civilians.

BBC News and The Telegraph report that McDonald’s said it was seeing a “meaningful” hit to business, as customers in the Middle East and elsewhere boycott the firm for its perceived support of Israel. Chief executive Chris Kempczinski acknowledged the impact in a LinkedIn post, blaming the backlash on “misinformation”. He is the second boss of a major US firm to address the business toll sparked by Israel-Gaza war tension. Starbucks has also been affected.

The Financial Times reports that the Palestinian prime minister said Israel was driving governance of the West Bank to the “edge of the edge” with the sweeping restrictions it has imposed in the occupied territory since Israel’s war with Hamas began. The US and others are pushing for the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited rule in the West Bank, to play a lead role in running Gaza once the fighting between Israel and Hamas has ended.

The Independent reports that The Metropolitan Police have defended their investigation of alleged war crimes in the Israel-Gaza war, saying they are obliged to by an international agreement. The Telegraph , The Daily Mail and the Evening Standard report that Boris Johnson and other critics have hit out at the decision by Scotland Yard to appeal for information from anyone returning from Israel or the Palestinian territories who thinks they have seen war crimes, terrorism or crimes against humanity.

The Daily Mail reports that Pro-Palestinian protesters targeted Secretary of State Antony Blinken with ‘fake blood’ outside his suburban Virginia home on Thursday. Activists surrounded his SUV as it rolled through the gates of his house in McClean and spilled red paint on the driveway as he left for work.

The Guardian reports that the mother and uncle of a US service member were rescued from the fighting in Gaza in a secret operation coordinated by the US, Israel, Egypt and others, according to a US official speaking to the Associated Press. It is the only known operation of its kind to extract American citizens and their close family members during the months of devastating ground fighting and Israeli airstrikes in Gaza.

The Guardian also reports on Nadav Hanan, who was at the smaller of the dance stages at the Nova dance festival in southern Israel when Hamas attacked. “It was the beginning of an extended nightmare for the 27-year-old that saw him zigzag more than 15 miles of rough ground barefoot, surviving seven ambushes by Hamas attackers along the route to safety.”

Yediot Ahronot’s Nahum Barnea assesses “the day after” pessimistically, writing that “the war, heroic as it may be, has not achieved any of its objectives to this day, neither the impossible objectives that Netanyahu imposed on it nor the more realistic objectives formulated by the chief of staff. This is not an accusation—this is a fact. There have been operational achievements on the ground, in the south as well as on the border with Lebanon. There are no solutions; there is no exit strategy. The army is hoping for a situation in Gaza that will enable the same rules of the game to apply as in the northern West Bank, where the IDF enters cities and villages at will; for the civilian systems to be run by Palestinians with partial cooperation with Israel. But Gaza is not Jenin. With the collapse of Hamas’ civilian systems, Gaza will become a black hole, exactly as Gaza looks in aerial photographs.”

Barnea also writes on Israel’s supply of weaponry from allied nations. “The munitions market is global” he notes. “Everything flows until some countries realize that the law forbids them from supplying military equipment to a country that is at war. Italy, for example. Israel purchases a certain non-vital military item from Italy. Sorry, the Italians said. The law forbids us. The Americans have a different problem: the wars in Ukraine and in Gaza have emptied their emergency warehouses. There are some munitions for which there is a renewed need. Air-to-air rockets, for example. In the past, they were used in aerial combat. Now they have been given new life, as a weapon against UAVs. The conclusion of the defence establishment is unequivocal: Israel must produce all its munitions by itself and start more production lines for Namers and tanks. The war’s needs forced the Defense Ministry to order a temporary halt to defence exports. All these decisions come at a considerable cost.”

Of the attacks on Chief of Staff Halevi at the Security Cabinet meeting, Kan News quotes a minister saying that Halevi had been subjected to “mob violence”, and that “I am not sure this forum is fit to make decisions regarding Israel’s defence policy.” Yediot Ahronot adds of Mofaz’s team’s investigation that : “Presumably, the team will submit an interim report as early as in the next few months. This may spur ministers to demand the establishment of the state commission of inquiry that will likely bring about the dismissals or resignations of top officials.”

Haaretz details the three Israelis added to the hostage list, having previously been listed as missing. They are 42-year-old Hanan Yablonka from Tel Aviv, a father of two children, who was kidnapped from the Nova party; 28-year-old Idan Shtivi from Ganei Tikva, who was also kidnapped from the rave; and Ilan Weiss, a 56-year-old whose death was announced by Kibbutz Be’eri earlier this week. Ilan’s wife and daughter, Shiri and Noga Weiss, were kidnapped to Gaza from Be’eri and released on November 26 as part of the hostage deal with Hamas.

Of the north, Haaretz’s Amos Harel writes that “the view in the IDF on Thursday was that even though a response to the Arouri killing will come soon, Hezbollah and Hamas will prefer a limited action from the north, which will remain below the threshold of a regional war (although in the wake of October 7, these assessments should be taken with all due caution). Harel also assesses that “the exchanges of fire in the present format could last for some months, during which the Americans and the French will attempt to achieve a diplomatic settlement. But the prospects for that are not considered high, so it’s possible that after the diplomatic talks have run their course, Israel will also deploy for a military solution. And this is without noting the possibility that a tough response by Hezbollah to Arouri’s death will set the sides on a track of miscalculations that will engender sharp escalation.”

Also on the north, Yediot Ahronot’s Nadav Eyal writes, “if there is war, the IDF General Staff believes that there will be no choice but to carry out a ground maneuver in Lebanese territory. The IDF hopes that its actions in the last few weeks, with the assassination in Dahiya being the chief one, have increased its deterrence against Hezbollah and illustrate that everything is different now. The security establishment will give time for diplomatic efforts to avert a clash. Few believe that they have any chance of succeeding.

Israel Hayom reports the US and 12 allied nations, including the UK, delivering a clear and possible final warning to the Yemeni Houthis to desist in their attacks on vessels in the Red Sea. “Let our message now be clear,” is said: “we call for the immediate end of these illegal attacks and release of unlawfully detained vessels and crews,” the countries said. “The Houthis will bear the responsibility of the consequences should they continue to threaten lives, the global economy, and the free flow of commerce in the region’s critical waterways.” A senior Biden administration official declined to detail rules of possible engagement if the attacks continue but underscored that the Iranian-backed Houthis should “not anticipate another warning” from the US and its allies.

Maariv publishes its latest polling, its first since the news of the assassination of Arouri and the Supreme Court’s ruling on the reasonableness amendment. It shows slight gains for the Likud compared with the last poll, up to 19 seats in the Knesset.  Overall, however, the current coalition is projected to receive 46 seats, the opposition 64, and Hadash-Ta’al and the United Arab List 10. Benny Gantz leads Prime Minister Netanyahu on who is better suited to the office by 48 percent to 34