The Independent and BBC report on Israel’s dissolution of the Knesset, setting the stage for the country’s fifth election in less than four years. Yair Lapid is currently poised to become Israel’s new Prime Minister despite the collapse of his eight-party coalition last week. Naftali Bennett has also notified his party, Yamina, that he will not be running in the upcoming elections after having spent a year in office.

The Guardian comments on a decaying oil tanker in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen, which has been described by its previous owner as a “bomb”. Even the slightest damage to the ship could spark a huge explosion which would force the closure of the ports of Hodeidah and Saleef – vital gateways for over 90 per cent of Yemen’s food supplies. The editorial claims that this environmental and humanitarian disaster could be prevented if the UN were to provide $20m to unload more than a million barrels of oil from the tanker.

The Independent reports that Unilever has reached a new business arrangement with Israel that will mark an end to Ben & Jerry’s policy of refusing sale of its ice cream to East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Israel sees this policy reversal as a triumph against the BDS movement which seeks to weaken Israel by advocating for the imposition of harsh economic sanctions on the Jewish State.

Reuters follows Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan’s deal to allow Finland and Sweden to join NATO. The lifting of Ankara’s veto comes after intense negotiations in Madrid, with Turkey subsequently being promised Western aid in its fight against terrorism. The deal includes ‘nine guarantees’, notably prohibiting the two Nordic nations from supporting various Kurdish forces abroad.

The Financial Times reports that senior US officials have expressed support for the modernisation of Turkey’s aircraft fleet by offering the sale of US F-16 fighter jets. Ahead of Joe Biden’s visit to Turkey, American officials insist that this deal had no relation to US hopes for Ankara to revoke its veto over Finland and Sweden’s membership to NATO.

Reuters reports that a Palestinian has been killed in Jenin after throwing live explosives towards Israeli soldiers who had been conducting counter-terrorism activities in the area. Military raids in Jenin have increased recently, following a spike in residents from the area carrying out deadly street attacks on Israeli civilians.

In the Israeli media, Channel 12 News reports that three Israelis came under fire and sustained light injuries in a shooting attack at Joseph’s Tomb, among them Samaria Brigade Commander Col. Roi Zweig. The IDF Spokesperson’s Office said armed assailants opened fire at the compound as hundreds of worshippers entered the tomb compound in Nablus last night. The statement read: “IDF troops returned fire. As a result of the fire from the armed men, two civilians were injured. Samaria Brigade Commander Col. Roi Zweig was also injured and taken to hospital after apparently being hit by shrapnel and is listed in light condition. The IDF troops evacuated all the civilians to outside of Nablus.” Samaria Regional Council Chairman Yossi Dagan was also in attendance and said: “Terror attacks take place because the government does not let the IDF return to Joseph’s Tomb, which is the moral thing to do. I have something to say to those who think they will cause the eternal people to flee by means of guns and terrorism: we will not concede our possession of Joseph’s Tomb, we will continue to visit Joseph’s Tomb and we will defeat the barbaric terrorism of the ‘Palestinian Authority.’”

Domestic politics continues to dominate the headlines, with coverage in all papers leading with Naftali Bennett’s announcement that he will retire from politics and the ongoing Knesset saga ahead of dissolving parliament in order to hold new elections. Summing up Bennett’s short tenure as prime minister, Maariv’s political correspondent Ben Caspit praises the outgoing prime minister for his excellent management skills contrasted with poor political instincts and compares Bennett to former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who Caspit says has poor management skills but is a polished politician. That, he says, was the main reason the government of change failed to survive.

All the papers report that American multinational Unilever, which owns Ben & Jerry’s, has agreed to sell its business in Israel to the local licensee, ending the firm’s boycott of Israeli settlements and paving the way for continued sales of its products in Israel and the West Bank. In a statement on Wednesday, Unilever announced that it had “sold its Ben & Jerry’s business interests in Israel to Avi Zinger, the owner of American Quality Products Ltd (AQP), the current Israel-based licensee”. The new arrangement means Ben & Jerry’s will be sold under its Hebrew and Arabic names throughout Israel and the West Bank under the full ownership of its current licensee. “We are aware of the Unilever announcement. While our parent company has taken this decision, we do not agree with it,” Ben & Jerry’s said in a statement.

Israel Hayom reports on President Isaac Herzog’s meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah II this week. President Herzog’s office said: “During the warm meeting, which was held at the invitation of King Abdullah, the President and the King discussed deep strategic issues, both bilaterally and regionally.” Israel’s National Security Council Chairman Eyal Hulata also visited Jordan last week. Both visits come ahead of US President Joe Biden trip to the Middle East in mid-July. He will visit Saudi Arabia, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority.

According to Ynet, Israel has not agreed to a partial prisoner swap deal proposed by Hamas, which offered to exchange Hisham al-Sayed for sick Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, without including bodies of dead IDF soldiers. On Tuesday Hamas released a video of Hisham al-Sayed lying in a bed with an oxygen mask on his face. A television seen in the room was broadcasting pictures of a conference held this week in Qatar. According to sources, Israel wants the agreement to include Avera Mengistu, who has been held in Gaza since 2014, as well as the bodies of soldiers Oron Shaul and Hadar Goldin, who were killed in Operation Protective Edge.

Walla notes that Defence Minister Benny Gantz has accused the Iranian-backed Lebanese militia Hezbollah of conducting a cyber operation designed to disrupt a UN peacekeeping mission on the border between the countries, and threatened harsh Israeli retaliation against enemy hackers. Speaking at an event for Cyber Week, Gantz said: “Iranian security institutions in cooperation with Hezbollah (recently) launched a cyber operation with the aim of stealing materials about UNIFIL activities and deployment in the area, for Hezbollah’s use”. He further revealed that an Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps cyber unit called “Shahid Kaveh” had “conducted research to damage ships, gas stations and industrial plants in several Western countries including Britain, the US, France and Israel”.