BBC News, the Financial Times, The Independent, The Guardian, the Associated Press and Reuters report that former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak – ousted by the military in the 2011 Arab Spring – has died in Cairo at the age of 91. The Times and Reuters reports that Mubarak will be buried with military but not state honours today reflecting the ambiguous attitude of many Egyptians towards their former leader.

BBC News, The Telegraph, The Independent, The Guardian, the Financial Times, The Times and the Associated Press report that Iran’s deputy health minister and an MP have both tested positive for the new coronavirus, as it struggles to contain an outbreak that has killed 15. The country is one of three hot-spots outside China causing concern that the virus could be becoming a pandemic. The Guardian reports that preparations for an outbreak of coronavirus were underway in Afghanistan as the country confirmed its first case in the western province of Herat, which borders Iran. The Associated Press reports that Iranian clerics are keeping Shi’ite shrines open, even though the virus has spread around the holy city of Qom.

BBC News reports that at least 20 civilians, including nine children, were killed in Syrian army strikes in the Idlib region on Tuesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has said, as schools and hospitals were among the alleged targets. Reuters reports that Syrian rebels backed by the Turkish military have seized the town of Nairab in northwest Syria’s Idlib province, Turkish and rebel officials said on Tuesday, the first area to be taken back from advancing Syrian government forces.

The Guardian and Reuters report that Benjamin Netanyahu has announced he will move ahead with a ‘highly controversial plan to build settlements east of Jerusalem’, in an apparent offering to hardline nationalist voters less than a week before a general election.

Reuters reports that donors and aid groups are planning to suspend humanitarian aid to areas of Yemen controlled by the Houthis in the coming months if the group does not stop hindering the delivery of assistance, a senior US State Department official said on Tuesday.

In the Financial Times, David Gardner argues that Lebanon’s economic crisis requires an urgent decision on IMF aid, as the country is trapped in a full-scale emergency that could unravel social bonds.

In The Independent, Richard Hall writes about what it is like to work on the Syrian civil war, asserting the gravity of the atrocities are difficult to explain to the public because readers themselves are bored by it and the international community is unwilling or unable to stop it.

In The Times, Roger Boyes asks why ‘failing states’ like Iran, Venezuela and Syria do not ever fail, suggesting the West should increase aid to these states in order to demonstrate the incompetence of their leaders and regimes.

In the Financial Times, Heba Saleh has published an obituary for Hosni Mubarak, claiming Mubarak’s time in office demonstrated a ‘lack of vision’ whilst some Egyptians ‘are nostalgic for a time of stability’ that Mubarak’s presidency ingrained.

In The Independent, Borzou Daragahi and Bel Trew write that Hosni Mubarak possesses a complicated legacy, as his ousting has paved the way for more brutality since 2011.

The Israeli media report comments by Bernie Sanders in Tuesday’s debate in South Carolina that he would consider reversing President Trump’s decision to move the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem and called Benjamin Netanyahu “a reactionary racist.” Sanders recognised the US commitment to protect Israel’s independence and security, but said that it must not ignore Palestinian suffering.  Kan news noted that Michael Bloomberg said it was too late to return the American embassy to Tel Aviv, and that the focus should now be on advancing a two state solution. Haaretz reports that Senator Elizabeth Warren said: “Israel has a right to security and the Palestinians have a right to be treated with respect and to have self-determination.” Warren said the US role should  be to encourage direct negotiations between the two sides.

All the Israeli media report the death of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.  Israel Hayom quotes Prime Minister Netanyahu’s tribute that: “The president was a personal friend, he was a leader who led his people to peace and security, peace with Israel.”  According to the paper: “Throughout his rule, he was a stalwart US ally, a bulwark against Islamic militancy and guardian of Egypt’s peace with Israel. But to the tens of thousands of young Egyptians who rallied for 18 days of unprecedented street protests in Cairo’s central Tahrir Square and elsewhere in 2011, Mubarak was a relic, a latter-day pharaoh.” Anshel Pfeffer writing in Haaretz reflects: “How to deal with the transition after Hosni Mubarak’s departure” was among the items at the top of the list of major challenges facing Israel in any strategic briefing by a senior security or intelligence official during the first decade of this century. The Israeli intelligence community paid extremely close attention to the Egyptian president’s health. His every cough, hospitalisation and unexplained absence from public events were dissected. When Israeli leaders met him, a member of the entourage was briefed to look out for various discreet signs of his condition. The diagnosis was that Mubarak was dying from cancer and didn’t have long to live. The conclusion may have been correct, but the timeline was way off. Mubarak lived to 91, dying on Tuesday in Cairo…. Most crucially for Israel, he had made it clear from the moment he took power in 1981, replacing President Anwar Sadat who was assassinated at his side, that he would stick to the peace treaty signed by Sadat. For that he received thirty years of gratitude from Jerusalem and Washington.”

Israeli media report that the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Maj. Gen. Kamil Abu Rokon met yesterday in Jerusalem with the Qatari envoy, Mohammed al-Emadi, and UN Middle East Coordinator Nikolay Mladenov. The three men discussed the efforts to restore calm in the south. Kan News reported last night that Hamas has demanded that Israel lift all restrictions on movement at the Erez and Kerem Shalom crossings today and that it expand the fishing zone off the Gaza coast to 15 miles. Hamas has also asked Israel to allow thousands of Palestinian businessmen and labourers from Gaza to enter Israel. Defence Minister Naftali Bennett warned of a possible future military operation in Gaza in an interview last night with Channel 12 News.