The BBC, Telegraph and The Times report that a rail company recruiting 30 female train drivers in Saudi Arabia says it has received 28,000 applications. The successful candidates will drive high-speed trains between the holy cities of Mecca and Medina after a year of training. It is the first time such roles have been advertised for women in the conservative Muslim kingdom after government has made efforts to increase the number of women in work as part of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s plan to diversify the oil-dependent economy.

The Guardian notes that Kuwaiti women are protesting after the military, having allowed female soldiers to take combat roles, decided they need the permission of a male guardian and banned them from carrying weapons. Activists have decried the policy as “one step forward, two steps back” after the defence ministry also decided that women in the armed forces, unlike civilians, must wear head coverings.

The Independent follow a new UN report that claims over 1,000 children are detained in Iraq over national security concerns and suspected ISIS links.

A US-Iranian deal taking shape to revive the 2015 JCPOA nuclear agreement lays out phases of mutual steps to bring both sides back into full compliance, and the first does not include waivers on oil sanctions, diplomats tell Reuters.

In the Financial Times, David Gardner writes that “regional actors who have been at each other’s throats for the past decade and more are slowly easing into tentative partnerships. There are two main reasons: Iran and the US — and the tantalising possibility of a nuclear deal in coming weeks, after which President Joe Biden’s attention will turn elsewhere.”

The Guardian reports that an Israeli farmer has grown the world’s heaviest strawberry, according to Guinness World Records. At 289g, the strawberry was about five times the average weight of a regular berry of the local Ilan variety, said Nir Dai, a researcher at Israel’s Volcani Institute, where the strain was developed.

In the Israeli media, French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian tells Maariv reporter Gideon Kouts that a new nuclear agreement with Iran would be announced next week. Le Drian warned Iran against attempting to subvert the agreement at the last minute and pose new demands, which he said would cause a severe international crisis. According to the leaked 20-page agreement, in the first phase, $7bn worth of Iranian assets frozen in South Korea will be released, and Iran will freeze uranium enrichment to 5 per cent. Only after these steps happen will the sanctions removal phase begin, which is expected to last between one and three months. The French foreign minister and his European colleagues will meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian to discuss coordination during the Munich Security Conference. Speculation also mounts that the Iranian foreign minister will also meet with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Munich.

Tensions continued in the Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah last night, and security officials are on high alert ahead of Friday prayers on the Temple Mount today. Fears of an escalation in the security situation are not limited to Jerusalem: writing in Maariv, Tal Lev Ram presents conflicting views among security officials regarding the overall security situation in the West Bank, with some predicting that the coming months in the Territories will be volatile but not unmanageable. However, IDF Central Division Commander Brig. Gen. Avi Bluth cautions that the situation on the ground could explode at any moment. “The oxygen and the combustible material are already in the field, and all that’s missing is the match that will ignite the whole area. The combination of Ramadan and Jewish holidays will provide more than a few opportunities for matches like these” to be struck, Bluth wrote to his officers.

In Yediot Ahronot, Yossi Yehoshua writes that the IDF believe Hamas will not interfere this time over Sheikh Jarrah and will not fire rockets. “It’s gotten to the point that the IDF’s top brass has recommended another series of civilian relief measures in Gaza in order to keep aiding the developing economy, which appears to be the main source of the quiet, along with the deterrence that was achieved after Operation Guardian of the Walls. Along with all of that, take into account the fact that Yahya Sinwar is a sober-minded leader who keeps a close finger on the pulse of the public. Neither he nor his senior officials have spoken out about Sheikh Jarrah, and the last thing he wants is to destroy the economic achievements now.”

Israel Hayom reports that Israel said on Thursday it would not cooperate with the UN Human Rights Council’s commission formed to investigate alleged abuses against Palestinians during last year’s 11-day conflict with Hamas, saying the probe and its chairwoman Navi Pillay were unfairly biased against Israel. Meirav Eilon Shahar, Israel’s representative to the UN, wrote to Pially: “It is obvious to my country, as it should be to any fair-minded observer, that there is simply no reason to believe that Israel will receive reasonable, equitable and non-discriminatory treatment from the Council, or from this Commission of Inquiry”. As a result, the commission will not likely be able to obtain access to the Palestinian territories.

Haaretz reports that Israel will lift all COVID restrictions in early March, as the Omicron virus continues to subside. Yesterday Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said that the “[omicron] wave has been broken,” during a meeting with ministers and health officials over the future of Israel’s coronavirus policy. “We are seeing a steep decline in the number of serious patients … we were the first country to close its gates to omicron, so it’s time we gradually loosen them.” According to a statement from the Prime Minister’s Office, the Green Pass, Israel’s digital vaccination passport that limited entry to indoor venues and large gatherings, is set to expire on March 1 and will not be extended. It may even be scrapped before that. The restrictions on foreign tourists will expire on 7 March.

Also in Yediot Ahronot, the government has reportedly decided to take the unusual step of advancing the state budget ahead of schedule, with a goal of stabilising the government and averting the types of flaws that led to the failure to pass a budget for fiscal year 2021. Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman will present the main points of the 2023-2024 state budget and arrangements bill just 12 days from now. The next budget is expected to be presented to the cabinet for approval at the end of May and brought to a plenary vote in the Knesset on 21 September, paving the way for Foreign Minister Yair Lapid to assume the prime minister’s office on schedule in the summer of 2023.