BBC News, the Times, Independent, Financial Times and Reuters report that US President Donald Trump says he is open to meeting Iranian President Hassan Rouhani under the right circumstances. It comes after Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif made an unannounced visit to the G7 summit on Sunday. Zarif said on Twitter that he held “constructive” talks with his French counterpart and French President Emmanuel Macron. The Guardian reports that President Macron has claimed that a French diplomatic initiative could lead to a summit between the US and Iran “within a few weeks”. Macron made the announcement at a press conference with President Trump at the end of the three-day G7 summit in Biarritz, and he pointed to remarks from President Rouhani expressing willingness to meet anyone if it was in the “national interest”. Reuters reports that President Rouhani has warned that Iran will not hold talks with the US until all sanctions imposed on Tehran are lifted: “the US should act by lifting all illegal, unjust and unfair sanctions imposed on Iran.”

The Guardian, Telegraph, Times, Independent and BBC News report that Israel has carried out air strikes against Iranian targets and Iran-backed militias in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. Israel’s military said on Saturday that it had struck several sites and thwarted an Iranian attack on Israel “using killer drones”. The UN has called for maximum restraint after a reported Israeli drone attack in a Hezbollah stronghold south of Beirut: “The United Nations calls on the parties to exercise maximum restraint both in action and rhetoric […] It is imperative for all to avoid an escalation.” Israeli drones struck a base belonging to a militant Palestinian splinter faction in the Bekaa Valley, close to the Syrian border, according to Lebanese and other Arab media. Reuters reports that Lebanese President Michel Aoun said on Monday that Lebanon had a right to defend itself, likening Israeli drone strikes to a “declaration of war”.

Reuters reports that Israel has stated that it will cut the amount of fuel it supplies to Gaza’s only power plant in response to rocket attacks from the Palestinian territory. Three rockets were fired from the Hamas Islamist-run enclave at southern Israel on Sunday and two were intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system. There was no claim of responsibility. After the attack, Israel launched an air strike against a Hamas military compound. In a statement, COGAT, a unit in the Defence Ministry that coordinates civilian issues with Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, said “cutting the amount of diesel in half will significantly reduce” the plant’s output.

The Independent reports that Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director of Human Rights Watch, has branded an Israeli scheme to build 300 new homes in Dolev in the West Bank a “war crime”. Shakir said the announcement was “indisputable evidence of ordering commission of a war crime (facilitating transfer of one’s civilian population to occupied territory in violation of Article 49 of 4th Geneva Convention)”.

The Independent and Reuters report that Iran has sold the Adrian Darya oil tanker, that was seized in Gibraltar, and its 2.1m barrels of crude oil to an unnamed buyer. An Iranian government spokesperson announced the news at a press conference in Tehran. He said the ship’s buyer would decide on the tanker’s ultimate destination.

Reuters reports that Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has claimed that the rejection of international law is on the rise during a meeting in Beijing with State Councillor Wang Yi. “Rejection of international law, not just lack of respect for international law, but, in fact, contempt for international law, is on the rise and we need to work together,” Zarif told Wang. Zarif said he was in Beijing to brief the Chinese official on his recent meetings in France on the JCPOA, but he gave no details.

Reuters reports that Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has stated that Turkish ground troops will enter a planned safe zone in northern Syria “very soon”. Turkey and the US agreed earlier this month to set up a joint centre for the planned safe zone along Syria’s north-eastern border. “We are slowly making progress in our efforts to establish a safe zone,” Erdogan said. “Just like many other issues some saw as untouchable, we are putting the east of the Euphrates issue on track”.

Reuters reports that the Saudi-led coalition acted on Monday to work out a ceasefire with its nominal allies in southern Yemen. Saudi Arabia and the UAE have formed a joint committee to oversee a truce between UAE-backed southern separatists and Saudi-backed government forces in the provinces of Abyan and Shabwa, a joint statement carried on state media said. “Internal dialogue, and not fighting, is the only way to resolve internal Yemeni differences,” the Saudi vice minister of defence, Khalid bin Salman, tweeted on Monday.

The Times and Reuters report that the Taliban is splitting, with thousands of fighters ready to defect to a resurgent Islamic State over US peace talks. US officials and the Taliban have resumed talks in Qatar to try to end the 18-year war, the longest in US history.  “We have been fighting for years to the point [where] we are close to defeating the foreign troops and getting rid of the puppet Afghan government,” one Taliban commander in the northern province of Kunduz has stated. “Many commanders want to keep fighting. This deal is just face-saving for the Americans to avoid humiliation.”

In the Times, Melanie Phillips argues that proposals for a new Holocaust memorial in London have exposed British hypocrisy and antisemitism: “the proposed Holocaust memorial in Westminster poses more than just environmental problems. It seems also to reflect a particularly sharp and distressing hypocrisy”.

All the Israeli media are reporting that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered his top security officials yesterday to provide Benny Gantz (leader of the Blue and White party) with a rare briefing on recent developments in Syria, Iraq and Lebanon. Gantz, a former Israeli Chief of Staff, is Netanyahu’s main challenger in the upcoming September election.

The chairman of Israel’s election committee ruled last night that political parties could not film inside polling stations. The ruling came about after the Likud party sent volunteers armed with cameras to some 1300 polling stations, primarily in Arab communities, in last April’s election, and ahead of the party’s intention to do the same in next month’s poll. The Likud said it may appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.

According to reports over the last two days, far-right libertarian candidate Moshe Feiglin may be persuaded by Prime Minister Netanyahu to drop out of the race in exchange for political promises, including a ministerial portfolio and marijuana decriminalisation. The controversial Feiglin, an old Netanyahu rival within the Likud, is now head of the Zehut party which is polling below the 3.25 percent electoral threshold and unlikely to win any Knesset seats. Netanyahu would like to minimise the number of right-wing votes “lost” in next month’s elections in order to maximise his chances of forming the next government.

The main opposition party, Blue and White, was again hit by internal unrest as an old campaign manager — Ronen Tzur — was brought back into the fold by party leader Benny Gantz. Tzur had made headlines in the past by criticising Blue and White number two Yair Lapid. Lapid confidante Ofer Shelach told Army Radio that he was “unhappy” with the move, and directed any queries as to why Tzur was retained to Gantz.