The BBC reports that in a rare public display of defiance in Iran, protesters have shouted anti-government slogans outside the home of a Kurdish man who has been executed. Crowds gathered in Heidar Ghorbani’s hometown of Kamyaran, in Kurdistan province, calling him a martyr. Ghorbani was convicted of the murder of three people linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps, but he had denied any connection with the killings, and human rights groups said he was a political prisoner.

Participants in a West Bank immersive language project tell of the strong bonds being forged that counter the rise in settler violence, according to The Guardian.

The Times publishes an article by Anshel Pfeffer who argues that the rift between Hamas leaders “could spark violence across Middle East”. Anshel writes: “Ten days ago a massive explosion shook the Burj al-Shemali Palestinian refugee camp on the outskirts of the Mediterranean port of Tyre, in Lebanon. The blast, which killed at least one person, was blamed on Israel but it reflected a power struggle within the Palestinian militant movement Hamas that has implications for the entire Middle East.”

The Financial Times writes that Iranians officials are alarmed by brain drain from doctors and university graduates planning futures abroad as reform hopes dim after the election of President Raisi.

The Telegraph reports that former ISIS wives are being employed at a newly opened deradicalisation centre for children detained in prison for ISIS women. Adjoining the prison, the Helat Centre was opened recently with funding provided by the UK government, local officials said.

The Guardian follows up the latest revelations from Israeli reporter Barak Ravid’s account of four chaotic years in the Trump administration over Middle East policy, especially the Abraham Accords. Donald Trump, Jared Kushner, Yousef al-Otaiba – the United Arab Emirates ambassador to the US – and members of Israel’s government took the time to talk to Ravid.

The Israeli media is dominated by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s press conference yesterday evening in which he spoke about the measures the government has taken to delay the spread of the Omicron variant in Israel. According to Kan Radio, Prime Minister Bennett said: “The fifth wave of infection had begun. The Omicron variant is in Israel and it is spreading rapidly” – with a doubling rate of two-three days. Bennett said that the government had “bought precious time” by restricting entry to Israel via Ben Gurion Airport, and added: “Given the very infectious nature of this variant, the collective, national protection provided by the state isn’t enough. Every individual needs to make sure that he has been vaccinated with three shots and that his children are vaccinated.” Bennett called on private employers to allow people to work from home and said that the public sector would act in kind. He also urged the public to avoid all unnecessary crowding.

Maariv writes that the government has set an “ambitious and perhaps also impossible” goal of vaccinating 700,000 children within two weeks. According to the report, Prime Minister Bennett and Health Minister Horowitz yesterday put to a vote a motion to begin immediately the strict enforcement of the Purple Certificate Programme in malls and other indoor shopping centres, despite backing down on the measure days earlier following protests from business-owners. Mask-wearing enforcement will also be ramped up, malls will be encouraged to extend their opening hours so as to reduce crowding and 50 vaccination centres will be set up in malls. The list of red countries was expanded yesterday to include the US, Canada, Italy, Belgium, Germany, Hungary, Morocco, Portugal, Switzerland and Turkey.

Yediot Ahronot’s health affairs correspondent, Sarit Rosenblum, urges the public to shoulder its share of the responsibility. In addition to urging immediate vaccination, she writes: “It’s true that there are still a few unanswered questions. It isn’t clear yet whether this variant causes serious illness and whether it affects different population groups differently, such as children or the elderly. All of those questions will be answered in the near future, but the things that we already do know about the variant, based on data from the real world, are more than enough to justify the world’s concern about it: it is more contagious, much, much more contagious than the Delta variant that preceded it. To some degree, the vaccine’s efficacy is somewhat reduced against it. And the immunity of the recovered is also reduced — apparently quite extensively so.”

Walla reports that the IDF has released new rules of engagement when dealing with those throwing stones and Molotov cocktails in the West Bank and Egyptian border, relaxing the rules to allow for soldiers to fire even after the assailants throw away their weapons. The new rules also allow for the IDF to fire at people stealing live ammunition and weaponry. This is especially relevant, as 70 per cent of all criminal shootings in Israel are carried out with stolen military weapons.

Israel Hayom summaries the activities of the UN General Assembly for 2021 in relation to Israel. In total, the UN passed 14 anti-Israel resolutions this year, while the other 194 countries in the world were hit with a grand total of four resolutions of condemnation – against North Korea, Iran, Myanmar, and Russian activity in Crimea. Meanwhile, a draft resolution against the Syrian regime highlighting its crimes against humanity was deferred. The two latest condemnations were issued last Friday. In one resolution, Israel is condemned for “exploiting the natural resources of the Palestinians, and on the Golan Heights”. The text failed to mention Hamas’ commandeering of international aid money to fund the construction of terror tunnels rather than to rebuild destroyed infrastructure; environmental pollution caused by Palestinian tire burning; destruction of flora and fauna with arson balloons and kites; and refusal to develop their own water resources and deal with their own sewage as required by the Oslo Accords.

According to The Jerusalem Post, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad – frustrated by the impasse in the ceasefire talks – have agreed to increase hostilities, especially in Jerusalem and across West Bank. In a joint statement published by the Palestine Information Center, they praise” the uptick in “resistance operations,” and expressed their “full support” for “all forms of resistance” against Israel. Palestinian political analysts cited in the article say the deal is seen as a challenge by the Palestinian Authority, whose security forces are carrying out a prolonged crackdown on Hamas and Islamic Jihad infrastructure in the West Bank.

Kan Radio reports that a winter storm, Carmel, struck Israel this morning. Magen David Adom has raised its level of alert and its teams are ready with four-wheel drive vehicles, jeeps and ATVs. The main concern is of flooding in the coastal plain, where a lot of rain is expected to fall within a short time on ground that is already saturated. The Education Ministry has cancelled all trips and other activities outside school grounds for the next three days because of the storm.