BBC News, The Telegraph, The Independent and The Guardian report that Iran’s deputy health minister has denied a claim of a cover-up over the new coronavirus disease, as the number of confirmed deaths there rose to 12. A parliamentarian for Qom, the city at the centre of Iran’s Covid-19 outbreak, accused the authorities of lying about the full extent of the problem. The Associated Press reports that Dubai International Airport, the world’s busiest for international travel, said Tuesday that the United Arab Emirates is limiting flights to Iran over the coronavirus outbreak.

The Times and The Independent report that Israel and a Palestinian militant group exchanged an escalating barrage of fire yesterday, triggered by the killing of a would-be bomber. His body was removed by an Israeli army bulldozer and images of his body dangling from the digger bucket caused outrage across Gaza.

Reuters reports that Gaza militants on Monday fired rockets towards Israel, which responded with air strikes, in the second day of an escalation that began to ebb after the Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad announced a halt to its attacks.

Reuters reports that Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud have taken a lead in the Israeli polls, ahead of former general Benny Gantz’s centrist Blue and White party before the March 2 election.

The Associated Press reports that the UN Security Council reiterated its support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on Monday, in its first statement following the unveiling of the US plan for resolving the decades-old struggle three weeks ago.

The Times reports that ‘all the money in the world’ cannot save civilians endangered by the Syrian offensive in Idlib, the head of the White Helmets rescue service said yesterday as he called for international intervention to stop the bloodshed in Syria. Reuters reports that Syrian government forces are advancing closer to the displaced persons camps along the Turkish border, as many now fear there is nowhere left to go.

Reuters reports that Turkish President Erdogan said on Tuesday that there was not yet full agreement on holding a proposed March 5 summit with Russia, France and Germany on the conflict in Syria’s Idlib, but Erdogan may meet Russia’s Vladimir Putin on that date.

The Independent reports that a female rapper in Saudi Arabia, who goes by the name of Asayel Slay, is facing arrest for her music video which celebrates women from the holy city of Mecca as “powerful and beautiful”.

In The Telegraph, Josie Ensor marks the end of her time as a correspondent in Beirut by recalling her memories of reporting the conflict in Syria, where she says: “The world has collectively lost its humanity.”

The Israeli media report that the US-Israel mapping committee for the West Bank began its work yesterday in the settlement of Ariel. The committee, of which US ambassador to Israel David Friedman and Tourism Minister Yariv Levin (Likud) are members, was created to implement the US plan for Israel and the Palestinians. The objective of the committee is to map the boundaries of all Israeli settlements in order to apply Israeli sovereignty to the areas. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with the committee yesterday outside Ariel, and said in reference to the application of sovereignty: “We will do this as soon as possible… as far as we are concerned, immediately.”

Kan Radio reported on a resolution passed unanimously yesterday at the UN Security Council that endorsed a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict while not mentioning either the Trump plan or longstanding Palestinian demands including a state on the pre-1967 ceasefire lines with East Jerusalem as its capital. For this reason the US also supported the resolution.

All the Israeli media report the government’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak, with the Foreign Ministry issuing a travel advisory for northern Italy and possible plans by the Health Ministry to quarantine Israelis returning from Italy for two weeks. Mandatory quarantines are already in place for Israelis returning from many countries in East Asia. According to official figures, 2 Israelis have been infected by the coronavirus so far – both of whom returned from the Diamond Princess cruise ship. More than 1,000 Israelis are currently in quarantine, many due to fears they came into contact with a South Korean tour group whose members tested positive for the virus.