The BBC reports that the UN Security Council has reauthorised cross-border deliveries of aid to rebel-held Syria for six months after Western powers bowed to demands from Russia, which vetoed their proposal for a one-year extension last week. The mandate for deliveries via Turkey expired on Sunday, prompting the UN aid chief to warn that “people will die”. Some 800 lorries had crossed into the north-western province of Idlib every month with aid for 2.4 million civilians. Russia said it would only agree to a six-month extension of deliveries through the Bab al-Hawa crossing until January 2023. Russia, China and 10 other countries voted in favour of the resolution yesterday, while the US, UK and France abstained to register their anger.

The Times follows claims in the US that Iran is sending armed drones to help Russia in its invasion of Ukraine. Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, said US intelligence believes that Iran will provide the Russian army with several hundred drones that were originally intended to help rebels in Yemen to fight the Saudi-backed government. Iran expressed initial ambiguity about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, despite the two countries’ co-operation in Syria, but it firmly blamed the expansion of NATO for the war, and has hardened its position since.

The Financial Times notes that the Israel-Saudi Arabia courtship is growing but Riyadh continues to play hard to get.

President Joe Biden arrives in the Middle East at time of rapid change, argues Bethan McKernan in the Guardian. “The lead-up to Biden’s trip has been dominated by news of developing defence cooperation between Israel and several of its neighbours to combat the threat posed by the growing military prowess of Iran and its proxies in the region.”

In the Independent Andrew Buncombe attempts to explain why President Biden changed his mind about making Saudi Arabia a ‘pariah nation’ over human rights.

The Times notes that sources in Washington have claimed an ISIS plot to use Saddam Hussein’s chemical weapons expert to target Europe was foiled by a US drone strike in 2015. Salih al-Sabawi, a senior Iraqi official under Saddam who helped build the dictator’s arsenal of chemical weapons, was recruited to create a stockpile of chemical and biological agents for terrorist attacks in European cities. The weapons would also have been used for the group’s military campaigns but al-Sabawi was killed in a US airstrike in 2015.

President Biden has been urged to raise the plight of three political prisoners in different nations when he visits the Middle East, according to the Independent. The relatives of political prisoners being held in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Egypt – the person held in Cairo, Alaa Abdel El-Fattah, has joint UK-Egyptian citizenship – travelled to Washington, where they have called on the US President to raise the specific cases.

The Financial Times reports that Tunisia’s scarred economy has been dealt a further blow by the war in Ukraine. The rise in global food and energy prices is hitting the country already struggling with falling living standards.

In the Israeli media, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer met with Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Tuesday and the two leaders signed a strategic partnership agreement. The Prime Minister’s Office said the agreement ranges from issues of security and cyber to health and tourism. “I think today we have the chance that we build our relations stronger than they were before,” Nehammer said during the signing ceremony in Tel Aviv.

Walla reports that Defence Minister Benny Gantz approved a new shipment of defensive aid to Ukraine’s emergency services as Russia’s invasion presses on. The latest aid package will include 1,500 helmets, 1,500 protective vests, hundreds of mine protection suits, 1,000 gas masks and dozens of hazmat filtration systems.

Haaretz reports that Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz, the leader of the Meretz party, announced on Tuesday that he will not be running in the upcoming leadership contest, although he will still seek a position on the party’s electoral slate. The party has been foundering in the polls of late, slipping extremely close to or even under the electoral threshold, and Horowitz was facing a primary challenge from Deputy Economy Minister Yair Golan.

Commenting in Yediot Ahronot on President Biden’s arrival today, Nadav Eyal writes: “The Americans’ message to the Middle East is that they are here to stay, to play a realistic and if need be hard-nosed game. Evidence of that is Biden’s trip to Saudi Arabia and his willingness to forgive the Kingdom for the murder of Jamal Khashoggi (by so doing, Biden is breaking a campaign promise he made to turn the kingdom into a ‘pariah’ state).” Eyal continues: “Countering that is the Russian message: We are also here to stay and aren’t going anywhere, and we intend to support and be supported by the Iranians and to exert our influence in Turkey. The rising tension between the American-Israeli-Saudi axis and the Russian-Iranian axis serves all of the parties. The top US administration’s priority remains energy prices for American consumers, but the recent developments increase the significance of Biden’s trip, making it more relevant than ever.”

On Channel 12 News, Ehud Yaari claims US officials are worried that the Iranians may try to mount a provocation through its militias in an attempt to cast a pall on the festive atmosphere during President Biden’s visit to Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Saudi Arabia. Yaari also writes that pressure is rising from Europe to make progress in the talks about the JCPOA nuclear agreement. “French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said that only a few weeks remained until the window of opportunity for reviving the JCPOA with Iran would be shut. In a meeting with lawmakers, she said the situation was no longer tenable and accused Iran of using stalling tactics and of back-pedalling on agreements that had already been reached in the talks that were held in Doha earlier this month, while simultaneously advancing its nuclear programme.”

Maariv publishes more details about the 2,000 apartments planned for Jewish neighbourhoods in East Jerusalem that were removed from the Jerusalem District Planning and Construction Committee’s schedule next Monday. One project is the Lower Aqueduct Project, which includes about 1,500 new apartments. The project is planned for an area that straddles the Green Line, with half the project on either side. The designated area for that project is sensitive, as it lies between the Har Homa and Givat Hamatos neighbourhoods. Building a Jewish neighbourhood there some argue would cut off Palestinian neighbourhoods, such as Beit Safafa, from the rest of East Jerusalem. Another project is the Givat Hashaked Project, which will include some 500 apartments adjacent to Beit Hanina and Shuafat. Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked refused to instruct the committee to strike the two specific projects from the agenda and instead cancelled the entire agenda, including construction projects intended for Jews and Arabs. She said the entire agenda would be discussed in full the week after Biden’s visit.

Israel Hayom reports that nine European countries have rebuked Israel’s terrorist designation of six Palestinian civil society groups, saying that have seen “no substantial evidence” to support the labelling and would not change their policies on supporting the groups. “Accusations of terrorism or links to terrorist groups must always be treated with the utmost seriousness,” read the statement, issued by Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, and Sweden. “No substantial information was received from Israel that would justify reviewing our policy towards the six Palestinian NGOs on the basis of the Israeli decision to designate these NGOs as ‘terrorist organisations'” it said.