BBC News, the Guardian, Telegraph, Times, Independent, Financial Times and Reuters report on Hezbollah’s missile attack on Israel yesterday. IDF spokesman, Lt Col Jonathan Conricus, said Israel had responded by firing approximately 100 artillery shells and that attack helicopters had struck the area. The exchange “was most likely over”, he said. Hezbollah sources reported several Israeli casualties, but Israel said no-one had been injured. The Lebanese military earlier said an Israeli drone had entered its airspace and dropped incendiary material on a forest along the border. The Israeli army has acknowledged it started a fire. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that Israel was “prepared for any scenario and we will decide on what’s next depending on how things develop”. Reuters reports that the US has voiced concerns about growing tensions on the Israeli-Lebanese border but underscored its support for Israel: “We are aware of these reports and are concerned about the escalating tensions along the border. The United States fully supports Israel’s right to self-defence”.

In the Guardian, Simon Tisdall argues that Israel risks becoming the fall guy in Donald Trump’s ‘shadow war’ with Iran: “Benjamin Netanyahu is counting on fear of conflict with Iran to win crucial election votes”.

Reuters reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reaffirmed his intention to annex all Israeli settlements in the West Bank, reiterating an election promise made five months ago but again giving no timeframe. “With God’s help we will extend Jewish sovereignty to all the settlements as part of the (biblical) land of Israel, as part of the state of Israel,” Netanyahu said in the Elkana settlement. Nabil Abu Rdainah, a spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, said Netanyahu’s announcement was: “A continuation of attempts to create an unacceptable fait accompli that will not lead to any peace, security or stability”.

The Times reports that HMS Montrose has faced 115 confrontations with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps in the Gulf since July, its captain has disclosed. Commander Will King said the Iranian military had “heavily” tested HMS Montrose almost daily with fast attack craft and drones deployed as close as 200 metres to “intimidate” his ship. Tehran harboured “a continuous intent to disrupt or interfere with UK interests in the area”, he said. Iranian personnel have directed aggressive messages over the radio to their British naval counterparts and mocked the Type 23 frigate after it failed to prevent the seizing of the UK-flagged Stena Impero. Lucy Fisher maintains that HMS Montrose was too far away to save Stena Impero: “‘She’s mine now!” the Iranian commander bragged at the Royal Navy via radio after commandeering a British-flagged commercial vessel and steering her into his territorial waters”.

The Independent reports that Iran’s Information and IT minister Mohammad Javad Azari Jahromi has mocked US President Donald Trump by posing with the Nahid-1 unit thought to have been at centre of launch pad blast. Trump had controversially tweeted a classified photograph taken by a US surveillance satellite, posting the high-resolution aerial image of a smouldering launch pad surrounded by a plume of black smoke – complete with annotations – on Friday. “The United States of America was not involved in the catastrophic accident during final launch preparations for the Safir SLV Launch at Semnan Launch Site One in Iran. I wish Iran best wishes and good luck in determining what happened at Site One,” he wrote.

BBC News, the Times and Reuters report that the US has carried out an air strike against leaders of al-Qaeda in Syria, in the country’s rebel-held Idlib province. US Central Command said the operation had targeted those “responsible for attacks threatening US citizens, our partners and innocent civilians”. Reports say some 40 people died in a missile strike on a jihadist training camp. It was hit just after Syrian government forces began a truce in Idlib. Initial reports indicated that calm had settled on the front lines after the Russian-backed unilateral ceasefire, which started at 06:00 (03:00 GMT).

In the Financial Times, Chloe Cornish, Asser Khattab and Henry Foy maintain that Russia is collecting its ‘spoils of war’ in the Syrian conflict: “Company controlled by friend of Russian president gains foothold in lucrative phosphate sector”.

The Times reports that the UAE wants to pull back from confrontation with Iran, according to senior regional figures. The shift has led to a fallout with Saudi Arabia. Tensions reached a nadir on Thursday when UAE jets bombed forces near Aden loyal to the Saudi-backed “recognised government” in Yemen. Formally, the UAE denies that it has changed policy but the message has been received in Tehran, Iranian journalists say. “Signs indicating a change in behaviour have been detected,” Iranian diplomats were quoted as saying on Al-Monitor.

In the Financial Times, Andrew England argues that the latest clashes in Yemen have renewed calls for a concerted international push to end the conflict: “a war within a war was the last thing Yemen needed. The country was already home to what the UN describes as the world’s worst man-made humanitarian crisis”.

BBC News, the Guardian, Independent and Reuters report that more than 100 people have died in Yemen after the Saudi-led coalition launched a series of air strikes on a detention centre, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The ICRC said that at least 40 survivors were being treated after the attack on Sunday in Dhamar. Local residents reported hearing six air strikes during the night. The Saudi-led coalition said its attack destroyed a drone and missile site. The Iran-aligned Houthi movement said the strikes had hit a facility it was using as a prison.

The Times and Reuters report that Taliban fighters have attacked Puli Khumri, the capital of Baghlan province, as US negotiators said that they expected a deal with the insurgents aimed at ending the conflict to be announced within days. The Afghan government said that the attack had been repelled but several civilians and security personnel were reported to have been killed. Zalmay Khalilzad, the diplomat leading the US delegation at the peace talks, said that the two sides were “at the threshold of an agreement that will reduce violence”, paving the way for dialogue between rival Afghan factions.

The Times reports that UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has intervened to double an increase to defence spending next year. The Treasury initially intended defence spending to keep pace with inflation with a settlement in Wednesday’s spending round of £800 million. That has been increased to £1.6 billion after the intervention of Johnson, according to Whitehall sources. It will allow Mr Johnson to claim that the UK has exceeded the Nato benchmark of spending 2 per cent of GDP on defence.

Reuters reports that the new head of Saudi Arabia’s anti-corruption commission will direct his focus on ending bureaucratic corruption and follow up with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on a monthly basis. “After the country largely rid itself of the big heads of corruption, I convey a stern warning from the crown prince, who instructed me that the coming period will be to eradicate corruption among mid- and low-level public servants,” he said.

The Israeli media discuss the exchange of fire between Hezbollah and the IDF on the Israel – Lebanon border yesterday afternoon. Amos Harel in Haaretz writes, “It seems as if the IDF was properly prepared for the attack. A few days ago troops were brought to the Northern Command, particularly artillery and Armoured Corps units, along with an enhanced presence of aircraft. At the same time, patrols along the border were reduced (so as not to provide Nasrallah any targets) and changes were made to the readiness of the border positions.”

According to Yediot Ahronot, “There were several soldiers in the ambulance at the time, and the missile missed its target only by sheer luck. The IDF is going to have to investigate how that happened. Had the missile scored a hit, the incident yesterday could have ended differently.”  The paper also notes, “Even though a formal return to normal was announced last night, it is clear that Nasrallah is planning another operation.”

Israel’s Channel 13 News and Kan News report the latest opinion polls ahead of the September 17 election. According to Channel 13: the Blue & White party is predicted to win 32 seats, Likud 31 seats, Yisrael Beteinu 11 seats, Yamina 10 seats, the Joint List 10 seats, United Torah Judaism 7 seats , Democrats 7 seats, Labour 6 seats, Shas 6 seats.

According to Kan News: Likud is predicted to win 32 seats, Blue & White 31 seats, the Joint List 11 seats, Yamina 10 seats, Yisrael Beteinu 9 seats, United Torah Judaism 7 seats, Democrats 7 seat, Shas 7 seats, Labour 6 seats. The polls predict that the Jewish Power party will receive 2.8% & 2.9% of the vote respectively, which is well below the 3.25% threshold for winning any seats in the Knesset.

Haaretz reveals, “Archaeologists have uncovered the massive walls of a 2,200-year-old Hellenistic fortification that may have been built by the Seleucid general who defeated Judah the Maccabee, the famed Jewish leader at the centre of the Hanukkah story.” “In an unexpected twist, the discovery could also help identify the location of the biblical town of Emmaus, where the Gospels say Jesus made his first appearance after being crucified and resurrected.”