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Media Summary

Lebanon announces a day of mourning after six killed in yesterday’s protest

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The BBCThe TimesThe TelegraphIndependent and the Guardian report that Lebanon has announced a day of mourning for today after at least six people died and dozens were hurt in deadly fighting in Beirut. Gunfire broke out yesterday during a protest by Shia Muslim groups against the judge investigating last year’s huge blast at the city’s port. Hezbollah, which organised the protest, says demonstrators were fired on by gunmen on rooftops. They blamed a Christian faction, although the group denies the charge.

The BBC writes that an Italian judge has suspended a trial of four Egyptians accused of killing an Italian student amid concerns they do not know they have been charged. Giulio Regeni’s mutilated body was found in a ditch near Cairo in February 2016. Four Egyptian security forces members were due to go on trial in absentia in Rome, accused of his kidnap, torture and killing. After hours of deliberation Judge Antonella Capri ruled in favour of defence lawyers for the men who argued the proceedings would be void without proof the four were aware of the case against them. It means the case will now go back to a preliminary court, which will decide whether to try to find the accused.

In the Independent, Mary Dejevsky argues that Nato’s power is waning and a new world order over security is emerging. On both sides of the Atlantic, Dejevsky writes, the direction seems to be towards separation on security in one way or another. Though how complete and how soon remains to be seen.

The Guardian reports that Cambridge University has halted a £400m deal with UAE over Pegasus spyware claims. In an exclusive, the paper writes that the prestigious UK institution was in line for huge donation but has paused talks due to concerns Gulf state used hacking software.

Also in the Guardian, a new exhibition at London’s Mosaic Rooms sets out to argue that the Dheisheh refugee camp near Bethlehem should be considered as a world heritage site. Since 2007, Alessandro Petti has been working with Sandi Hilal, leading DAAR, the Decolonising Architecture Art Research collective, and with Palestinian refugees in the Dheisheh camp to compile an unlikely dossier to submit to UNESCO, arguing for the location’s “outstanding universal value” as the site of the longest and largest living displacement in the world.

The Independent claims that a British football coach jailed for 25 years in Dubai over possession of CBD vape liquid is being “tortured” in prison. Billy Hood, 24, was found guilty of possession, selling and drug trafficking after police found cannabis vape juice in his car on 31 January.

In the Israel media, Yediot Ahronot’s Nahum Barnea contrasts Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s Iran policy with that of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Barnea describes the difference between the two leaders as “very real and highly charged”. He writes: “Netanyahu has been telling one story; Bennett has been telling the opposite. Netanyahu’s story is heroic: using his talents, his connections, and his willingness to fight, come what may, he managed to make the president of the US withdraw from the nuclear agreement and impose far-reaching sanctions on the Iranian regime … Bennett’s story is less heroic: Netanyahu did persuade the Trump administration to withdraw from the nuclear agreement. He was certain that Trump would win the election, that he would institute a policy of maximum pressure on Iran, and then would either break the Iranian regime and force it to give up its nuclear programme, or else he would go to war with Iran. This was no act of heroism, says Bennett. It was a crazy gamble, which failed. Sources close to Bennett went rummaging through the files to figure out whether Netanyahu had a backup plan. They found no such thing.”

Kan Radio News reports that last night on the tunnel road between Jerusalem and the Etzion bloc IDF troops fired on two Palestinian terrorists who had thrown a firebomb at an Israeli car. One of the terrorists, a 16-year-old, was killed and the other was apprehended. The incident took place near Beit Jala and a Hamas flag was found at the site where they had prepared the firebombs. The soldiers had set an ambush on the scene.

Maariv writes Israeli officials have expressed concern that Sudan intends to quietly withdraw from the Abraham Accords. According to well-informed sources, the US administration is pressuring senior Sudanese officials to implement the accords and complete the normalisation with Israel. Since Sudan formally signed the Abraham Accords in the final days of Donald Trump’s presidency – in exchange for being dropped from the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism, among other things – there has been no practical progress in implementing the Sudan-Israel part of the Abraham Accords. Despite an announcement in January that the agreement between Israel and Sudan would be signed soon, it hasn’t. Sudanese officials explained that before signing a normalisation agreement with Israel, some important issues had to be arranged first, such as the Sudanese demand to receive immunity against future lawsuits by families of people who were killed in the Twin Towers terror attack. They also said that Sudan was in the process of forming a permanent civilian government and that only afterwards could it sign the agreement with Israel.

Israel Hayom reports that the US and Israel could be heading toward a clash over the Biden administration’s determination to reopen its consulate in East Jerusalem. The US intends to unilaterally force Israel to consent, despite the risk of de-stabilising the Israeli government, says sources in Washington. The gaps between the government and the Biden administration appear unbridgeable over the issue, despite Foreign Minister Lapid’s visit to the US this week. The US is insistent about reopening the consulate for Palestinian affairs on Agron Street in Jerusalem. Israeli officials are adamantly opposed and view this as a symbolic expression of Jerusalem’s future partition and the possible recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of the Palestinian state. American sources said that at first, the administration would try to reach agreement with Israel. If that doesn’t work, then after the budget is passed, the administration may take unilateral steps.

Yediot Ahronot publishes a commentary by Sima Kadmon on the political developments inside Israel this week. She writes: “The Likud’s reaction to Yuli Edelstein’s announcement that he was running for the Likud leadership was silence. Some see that as a sign of Netanyahu’s weakening. When Saar announced his candidacy, the MKs went out of their way to malign him. In Edelstein’s case, the MKs did not dare express support, but Netanyahu was unable to get them to badmouth him. For Edelstein, his announcement was a statement that he is not scared, that he is not hiding behind ‘on the day after Netanyahu I will run’. But the truth is, Edelstein has nothing to lose. In the opposition, he’s lost. He doesn’t belong to the pack of Netanyahu’s attack dogs and his running makes him relevant.”

Kan Radio News reports that officials do not know when all of the computer systems will be back online at Hillel Yaffe Hospital in Hadera, two days after it suffered a cyberattack. The hospital still is not fully back to normal, and its staff have been trying to have patients receive non-urgent treatments at other medical facilities. The National Cyber Authority is finding solutions to the hacking, bypass the blocked IT systems, recreate encrypted data, and provide alternative systems. The police cyber unit of Lahav 433 has continued to investigate the incident in cooperation with international figures.