The Guardian, The Times and the BBC report about the celebrations in Jerusalem yesterday. The BBC’s Yolande Knell said the scene was raucous by the Damascus Gate entrance of the Old City, as young Israelis chanted and danced, carrying flags and playing drums as they headed towards the Muslim Quarter. But in this space where there would be usually large numbers of Palestinians going about their business or sitting on the stairs at that time of day there were only a handful of Palestinian journalists, Knell added. The Times also notes that earlier in the day a record number of 2,600 Jews entered al-Aqsa compound and some prostrated themselves appearing to pray.

Reuters reports that Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said on Sunday Iran would not go unpunished for instigating attacks through its proxies, speaking a week after the assassination in Tehran of a Revolutionary Guards colonel that has been blamed on Israel.

The Financial Times reports that Qatar has urged the West to step up its engagement with the Taliban, warning that failure to do so would risk Afghanistan falling into deeper chaos and a rise in extremism.

An Egyptian court has sentenced former presidential candidate Abdel Moneim Aboul Fotouh and several prominent figures from the banned Muslim Brotherhood to lengthy jail terms on accusations including plotting to overthrow the government, according to Reuters.

All the Israeli media report that the government has issued a travel warning for Turkey amid fears of an Iranian response to the assassination of a senior officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps last week. Maariv quotes a statement by the National Security council, which read: “For several weeks now, and even more so since Iran blamed Israel for the death of the Revolutionary Guards officer last week, there has been growing concern in the defence establishment about Iranian attempts to harm Israeli targets around the world.” The council said it was “sharpening” the travel warning to Turkey, stressing that the country and other nations bordering Iran pose “a high level of risk to Israelis these days”.

Writing in Yediot Ahronot, Ronen Bergman argues that a strategic shift has occurred over Israel’s anti-Iran policy. He refers to a string of attacks inside Iran against military facilities allegedly carried out by Israel, arguing that if true, Israel’s operations have been expanded to include targets associated with Iran’s research, development and production of aerial vehicles and Iran’s terrorist handlers. “Those operations also point to a change in strategy—or at least a partial change—in which a more aggressive combat doctrine has come to be used against Iran, a change that only Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has the authority to order.” Bergman concludes: “Alongside the debate within the Israeli security establishment as to whether Israel ought to oppose an [nuclear] agreement or ought to go along with it—a choice between an awful option and one that is slightly less bad—the question remains what will become of Israel’s special operations against Iran on Iranian soil if and when the US does sign. The Iranians will certainly demand that the US rein in its Middle Eastern ally.”

Commenting on the yesterday’s events, Yediot Ahronot’s Nahum Barnea echoes Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s observation (without mentioning the prime minister by name) that while the reunification of Jerusalem should be a day for all Israelis to celebrate, the fact that it has been co-opted by the religious right has left Israel’s capital looking rather like an “occupied city.” Barnea adds: “Jerusalem is the capital of my country and of my people. It is an important, fascinating city. It deserves a day that is dedicated only to it. It is a shame that one sector, the settlers, have taken the day over and claimed ownership of it. That’s their prerogative, of course. But there is a price for taking ownership [in this way]: Apart from a few, lone stragglers I didn’t see any men without knitted kippot on their heads. There were no secular people, no Haredim. Only what people who belong to the so-called right-wing religious Zionist sector. Jerusalem Day occupies the same place in the religious Zionist calendar that May Day used to hold for left-wing parties.”

The Biden administration has settled on a series of steps aimed at boosting its diplomatic ties to the Palestinians in lieu of deciding not to reopen its US Consulate in Jerusalem, according to the Times of Israel. US President Joe Biden is expected to elevate Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Israeli and Palestinian Affairs Hady Amr to the role of special envoy to the Palestinians. The Biden administration is hoping to finalise other steps before the president’s trip to Israel and the West Bank that is expected to take place in late June.

Israel Hayom reports that a new political crisis could be brewing in the Knesset. This week the Knesset is expected to vote on a bill to extend the application of Israeli criminal law in the West Bank for the next five years. However, it is not clear whether the United Arab List will vote in favour of the measure. Failure to pass that measure will have a dramatic impact: among other things, Israelis will not be able to stand trial in Israeli courts for offenses committed in the West Bank. Another challenge in the offing involves MK Michael Biton (Blue and White), who is currently abstaining from all Knesset votes except no-confidence votes due to his disagreement with Transportation Minister Merav Michaeli over transportation reforms and with Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman and Agriculture Minister Oded Forer over agriculture reforms. Cabinet Secretary Shalom Shlomo has been involved in recent days trying to solve the crisis, but coalition sources say MK Michael Biton’s boycott is expected to make things even harder for them because last week the coalition managed to overcome his opposition thanks to agreements made with the opposition.

Haaretz reports that the government told the High Court of Justice on Sunday that the outpost of Homesh will be evacuated but did not specify when it intended to do so. In response to a petition filed by Palestinian landowners demanding to clear out the former West Bank settlement. The state also said that an entry ban on the outpost is already being enforced under the Disengagement Law, the only exceptions are Yeshiva students and those participating in mass marches. On this note, the state clarified that in practice, Israelis are allowed to enter the settlement. Attorney Shlomo Zaharia, the lawyer representing the petitioners, said in response: “The state admits that it acts, allows, and maintains an illegal outpost against the law while excluding landowners from their lands, Even in the context of all the obscene responses the state has given, new records have been broken here, under the authority of the State Prosecutor’s Office.”