The BBC, Reuters, Independent and The Times report that Israeli security forces have killed the Palestinian terrorist who opened fire at a bar in Tel Aviv last night, killing two people and wounding 12 others. The assailant, from Jenin in the West Bank, was tracked down to nearby Jaffa and died in a shootout. Officials said over 1,000 members of the Israeli police, army special forces and the Shin Bet intelligence service were involved in the night-long manhunt to find the assailant.

The Times and the Guardian report that a Turkish court has transferred the trial of 26 suspects accused of murdering Jamal Khashoggi to Saudi Arabia, in a move described by activists as ending “any possibility of justice”. Hatice Cengiz, Khashoggi’s fiancée, said she would challenge the decision. Turkey “is not ruled by a family like in Saudi Arabia. We have a justice system that addresses citizens’ grievances … we will appeal the decision in line with our legal system”.

More than £1.2bn worth of personal property including cars, olive groves, shops, houses, electronics and jewellery has been seized by the Syrian government from citizens accused of joining anti-government protests, writes the Guardian. The Association of Detainees and the Missing in Sednaya Prison (ADMSP) estimates that almost 40 per cent of those detained after the Syrian uprising of 2011 were subject to property seizures.

The Financial Times and Reuters report that Lebanon and the IMF have reached a preliminary agreement for a $3bn loan facility, the first significant step towards bringing relief from an economic and financial crisis that has crippled the country since 2019.

In the Israeli media, the news is dominated by last night’s shooting attack in Tel Aviv that killed two Israelis and injured 15 more, four of which remain in serious to critical condition. In Israel Hayom, Yoav Limor writes: “This terror attack took place at a particularly sensitive time. Not only because of the location and time — in Tel Aviv, on a Thursday evening, with revelers out in large numbers, on the first day of the Passover vacation — but also because of the broader context: the evening before the first Friday of Ramadan, a week before Passover, and with Israel doing everything it can to curb the current wave of terrorism while trying not to impose collective punishment. Up until last night, it had seemed that this effort was bearing fruit. The IDF and the Israel Police flooded the ground with forces, the Shin Bet focused its activity — and was able to foil several terror attacks before they hit Israel. That was why the political echelon decided to endorse the recommendation of the security officials to permit Ramadan to be celebrated as usual; the Palestinians were promised economic relief measures and freedom of movement, and the restrictions on admission to the Temple Mount were meant to be minimal.”

Kan Radio reports that Israel voted with 92 other countries to suspect Russia from the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC). The UN General Assembly suspended Russia’s membership on the UNHRC yesterday due to its invasion of Ukraine and killing of innocent civilians. Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said that Israel’s vote did not change its position that the UNHRC is an extremist, morally-flawed, biased, and in its very essence anti-Israel body that has been exploited as a political tool since its establishment by the world’s main human rights violators in order to attack Israel, among other things.

Commenting in Yediot Ahronot on the political situation after Idit Silman (Yamina) quit the coalition, Sima Kadmon faults Prime Minister Naftali Bennett for not being aware of Silman’s intentions. She writes: “It seems that when Bennett woke up on Wednesday to the Silman nightmare, he was the only one who didn’t know. His partners had been warning for weeks that this would happen … but Bennett was like a spaceship that was cut off from the base. Had he been someone else, Netanyahu for example, he would have dropped everything and gone personally to the Silman family home. He would have eaten breakfast, lunch and dinner with them. He would have enveloped them with love, warmth and promises. He would not have let up until he got what he wanted … but Bennett didn’t do this. He was more preoccupied with strengthening his political partners than his own party. Instead of paying attention to his faction members, who in any case feel like persecuted and hated outsiders with no political prospects, he turned his back on them.”

A new poll in Maariv shows that if elections were held today, the Likud would win 37 seats (seven more than it currently holds) but the right-wing opposition still falls short of a majority in the Knesset. Yesh Atid would win 18 seats, followed by Religious Zionist party on 9, Shas 7, UTJ 7, Blue and White 7, Labour 6, Arab Joint List 6, Yamina 5, Yisrael Beiteinu 5, Meretz 5, New Hope 4 and Ra’am 4. If Saar fails to cross the electoral threshold, the pro-Netanyahu bloc will have 61 seats. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman said last night that the last thing Israel needs now is a fifth election within three years. He said that understandings had been reached with MK Nir Orbach (Yamina). Liberman added: “We’ve stopped the drift and there will not be elections. I also told my good and naïve friend Idit Silman that she’d made mistakes, but mistakes can be corrected. Liberman told the Yisrael Beiteinu Central Committee that whoever was counting on a new election had nothing to count on.”

Walla reports that Israel has rejected the US administration’s proposal to host a meeting of Israeli and Palestinian national security advisers at the White House. The proposed meeting was to focus on avenues for economic and security coordination between Israel and the Palestinians and holding it at the level of national security advisers, rather than more senior officials, was meant to enable Prime Minister Bennett to claim it wasn’t a diplomatic meeting.

Israel Hayom notes that the top US military official said on Thursday that he does not support removing Iran’s Quds Force, an arm of its Revolutionary Guards (IRGC), from a list of foreign terrorist organisations. US Army General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee:  “I believe the IRGC Quds Force to be a terrorist organisation and I do not support them being delisted.” It was reported last month that the US is considering delisting the IRGC as part of negotiations in Vienna in return for Iranian assurances about reining in the elite force, but no decision has been made yet.

Jerusalem Post reports that Israel is preparing to step into the gap in Europe’s energy market left by sanctions on Russian natural gas as soon as this summer. Energy Minister Karin Elharrar said on Thursday: “The European energy market is facing a substantial shortage following the Russia crisis. Israel sees an opportunity and will take full advantage of it.” A senior diplomatic source also said this week that whilst Israel cannot be “a replacement for Russian gas,” Israel has a “good amount that it can export … the question is what’s the quickest and most cost-efficient method, and what is most beneficial to all those involved.” Elharrar and the EU Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simson have established a working group on energy, which Egypt will be joining as well.