The Times and the online editions of the Independent and Financial Times all report that the United States and Israel yesterday signed a new ten-year military aid package worth almost £29bn. The current deal expires next year and talks over a new agreement, described as the largest military aid package ever agreed by Washington, have been protracted. All reports note that US financial support for Israel’s missile defence system is included in the deal, and will no longer be subject to additional Congressionally-mandated sums, as has previously been the case.

In a brief item, the Times includes an update on the condition of Israel’s former President Shimon Peres, who suffered a major stroke on Tuesday. He is said to be in a serious but stable condition. The 93-year-old Nobel laureate is considered Israel’s elder statesman, having served as prime minister and in numerous government roles during a lengthy career of public service.

The Telegraph includes a brief item covering an open letter signed by hundreds of Israeli artists and intellectuals, including the writer David Grossman and Nobel Prize laureate Daniel Kahneman, calling on Jews across the world “to join with Israeli partners… to end the occupation”.

Meanwhile, the online edition of the Financial Times says that although the ceasefire in Syria appears to be holding, wrangling is preventing the United Nations (UN) from delivering much needed food, medicine and fuel to stricken communities. The Telegraph online reports that the UN has accused armed Syrian groups of blocking aid to Aleppo for the purposes of “political gain”.

In the Israeli media, the ongoing concerns over Shimon Peres’s health is the top story in Yediot Ahronot and Maariv, which leads with the headline “Praying for his health”. Israel Radio news this morning reports that there has been a slight improvement in his condition and that Peres is slightly more alert. An item in Yediot Ahronot says that the next 36 hours are critical in assessing the severity of the damage caused to Peres’s brain and the threat to his life.

The top story in Israel Hayom, which is also a major item in Yediot Ahronot, Maariv and Haaretz is yesterday’s signing of the military aid package between Israel and the United States. Although much of the reporting focuses on the huge sum agreed, several commentators argue that Israel could have benefited from an even more generous package had it not been for friction caused by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s insistence over the Iran nuclear deal, particularly his speech in Congress on the issue. In Yediot Ahronot, Netanyahu’s former-National Security Advisor Uzi Arad writes: “Bibi gambled and missed an historic opportunity. The egg smashed in his face and Israel lost.”

Also in Yediot Ahronot, commentator Nahum Barnea says that the agreement is flexible, even though it stipulates that Israel cannot request additional missile defence aid from Congress. He says that in doing so, President Obama has sought to “put an end, once and for all, to Congress’s involvement in the relations between the administration and Israel”.

Meanwhile, Israel Radio news says that a mortar fired from Syria landed on the Israeli Golan Heights last night. It is the latest in several such incidents during the past week. The report says that the United States has advised citizens not to visit the Golan until the situation stabilises.