The Times and Financial Times report talks between Russia and Turkey over the fate of the Kurds in Syria. The Financial Times reports that Russia has called for new measures to hunt down extremist groups in Syria’s Idlib after accusing Turkey of failing to live up to a promise to clear the opposition stronghold of militants. President Vladimir Putin told his Turkish counterpart during crunch talks in Moscow that they must fight terrorists “wherever they are”, after Russian officials admitted that a ceasefire agreement around Syria’s last rebel-held stronghold had failed. “We believe that our support for the agreed cessation of hostilities should not supersede our efforts in fighting terrorism, which must be continued,” Mr Putin said, adding that new initiatives would target militants inside the city. The talks came four months after Moscow agreed to postpone a planned military assault on Idlib in exchange for a promise from President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey to clear it of militants. But on Wednesday Russia’s foreign ministry said the Islamist extremist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) had “full control” of the area. The Times reports that after the meeting with Putin, the Turkish president said that he would “cleanse” northern Syria not only of ISIS but also of the YPG. Mr Putin said that he was encouraging “dialogue between the Kurds and Damascus”. The YPG began negotiations with the Assad regime almost as soon as Mr Trump announced last month that troops would be withdrawn. It said that it would hand over border posts to the Syrian army in return for internal autonomy, something that would make a Turkish attack much more hazardous.

Reuters reports that US-backed, Kurdish-led forces are on the verge of eliminating Islamic State’s last remaining enclave in Syria near the border with Iraq after a four-month devastating bombing campaign that has left hundreds of civilian casualties. The capture of the village of Baghous comes after a string of other villages fell in recent days to the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-led militia alliance with aerial bombing strikes by the US-led coalition.

Patrick Cockburn writes in the Independent, arguing that US President Donald Trump “doesn’t always get it wrong on the Middle East”. North Korea, Russia and Syria are good examples of the positive side of Trump foreign policy, however unorthodox its expression, says Cockburn. On Syria, Cockburn writes: “Trump’s sudden decision in December to pull US troops out of Syria was condemned by everybody from the most liberal Democrats to the most belligerent Republicans. They all jumped on to their moral high horses, but none proffered an alternative policy and happily pretended that the status quo was sustainable – though it is not.”

The Independent reports that Britain’s counterterrorism police chief has said Donald Trump “handed ISIS a propaganda victory” that could bolster its efforts to radicalise people in the UK when he announced the withdrawal of US troops from Syria. Although the group’s online propaganda operation had been damaged by losses on the battlefield, it was still able to inspire followers to commit attacks, Neil Basu warned. “The radicalisation of vulnerable people, particularly lone actors and very suggestible, young, malleable or potentially mentally ill people, is still a great threat,” the Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner told the Independent. “You hand ISIS a propaganda victory if you say ‘we’re going to withdraw’, which they took as a sign they were able to say ‘we’ve won’. That can’t be good for us [in Britain. I would hate for anybody to be complacent enough to think that threat has gone.” Counterterror police in the UK are currently running a record 700 investigations, with 14 Islamist and four far-right terror plots foiled since the Westminster attack in March 2017.

The Financial Times reports that calls to bar Palestinians from the Route 60 highway have raised fears for the region’s economy. Route 60 is nicknamed “the Blood Highway”. The road has long been the scene of shootings, stabbings, car-rammings and clashes between Israelis and Palestinians, and its reputation has been reinforced by a string of fatal attacks claimed by Palestinian gunmen. The reaction to the latest violence has highlighted one of the mountain road’s other distinctions: it is an economic lifeline for many Palestinians and Israelis. Route 60 serves as the main north-south artery linking Palestinian cities with some of the largest Israeli settlements. The contested city of Jerusalem stands at its centre. But in response to the attacks right-wing Israeli leaders have called for it to be shut to Palestinians. For the millions of people who live along the route, as well as the many businesses that rely on it, its closure — or more checkpoints — could cripple the West Bank’s economy.

The Guardian reports that a new road in the West Bank that separates Palestinian and Israeli drivers was closed by protesters on Wednesday, before they were dispersed by Israeli police deploying teargas and stun grenades. Route 4370 is dubbed the “apartheid road” by some campaigners because of its 8-metre dividing wall of concrete and metal. The western side of the road is principally for Israelis, and the eastern side principally for Palestinians. The road, which opened earlier this month, allows residents of Jewish settlements in the West Bank to reach Jerusalem faster than if they had to pass through the congested Hizma checkpoint north of the city. The Palestinian side of the road is designed to take cars into an underpass that will eventually connect the Palestinian cities of Ramallah and Bethlehem without motorists having to drive through Jerusalem. Most Palestinians living in the West Bank do not have permits to enter Jerusalem. A group of protesters, comprising Israeli, Palestinian and international activists, blocked access to the road for about 30 minutes on Wednesday morning, holding a banner saying “No to apartheid, no to annexation”. One person was arrested and another injured.

The Guardian reports that European objections have forced the United States to backtrack on plans to stage a two-day conference in Poland focused on building a global coalition against Iran. The conference is now being described as a wider brainstorming session about the Middle East. In announcing the summit earlier this month, the US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, had explicitly said the summit’s purpose was to focus on Iran’s influence and terrorism in the region. But the joint official announcement of the summit did not mention Iran, instead highlighting issues connected with Iran – “terrorism and extremism, missile development and proliferation, maritime trade and security, and threats posed by proxy groups across the region”. The change of emphasis follows signs that many European countries, including the EU foreign affairs chief, Federica Mogherini, will avoid the two-day event on 12 and 13 February, and instead head to the Munich security forum later in the week. The US has been trying to persuade the EU to drop its support for the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, and has been using the threat of US secondary sanctions to press EU firms not to trade with Iran.

Reuters reports that, on Wednesday, France’s foreign minister said that he expected a European-backed system to facilitate non-dollar trade with Iran and circumvent US sanctions would be established in the coming days. Diplomats have told Reuters the European Union is set to officially launch the mechanism this month, but the so-called special purpose vehicle (SPV) will not operate for several months because technical details still need to be worked out. The vehicle, designed to bypass fresh US curbs imposed after Washington quit a landmark nuclear deal, will be registered in France, run by a German and likely to include France, Germany and Britain as shareholders.

The BBC reports that, according to an advocacy lawyer, a prominent American-born Iranian journalist who was held in the US as a witness has been released from detention, an advocacy lawyer says. Marzieh Hashemi was freed in Washington DC after being detained for 10 days, an attorney with the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee told the BBC. Ms Hashemi, who works for Iran’s state broadcaster Press TV, was taken into custody in St Louis earlier this month. Her detention came after Iran had arrested four Americans.

The Guardian reports that, according to Amnesty International, Iranian authorities arrested more than 7,000 dissidents last year in a sweeping crackdown that led to hundreds being jailed or flogged, at least 26 protesters being killed, and nine people dying in custody amid suspicious circumstances. Those rounded up during violent dispersals of peaceful protests in what Amnesty called “a year of shame for Iran” included journalists, lawyers, minority rights activists and women who protested against being forced to wear headscarves. Iranian authorities beat unarmed protesters and used live ammunition, teargas and water cannon throughout the year – particularly in January, July and August – with thousands arbitrarily arrested and detained, new figures assert.

The Independent reports that according to local officials, Yemen’s warring factions are set to agree a key prisoner swap within the next 10 days, as the UK government announced £2.5m of funding to bolster the United Nations peace process there. The UN hopes the exchange will pave the way for a concrete ceasefire deal in the strategic Red Sea city of Hodeidah, which should see both sides withdraw from the port and hand over control to local authorities and UN monitors. On Wednesday Hadi Haig, head of the Yemen government delegation, said that he expected the final signing of the prisoner swap to take place “within 10 days” after talks last week in Jordan.

In the Israeli media, Haaretz reports that the Israeli security cabinet has approved the transfer of $15m from Qatar to Gaza.  All security cabinet members except for Zeev Elkin of Likud supported the move. The Qatari envoy Mohammad Al- Emadi, arrived in Israel on Wednesday to make preparations for the transfer of funds, which was delayed by more than two weeks after a series of violent incidents on the Gaza border. Haaretz says “The funds are due to be distributed to officials in Gaza on Friday afternoon, at the time when protesters gather near the border fence. Israel believes that Hamas would not put the transfer of the funds at risk and will therefore act robustly to prevent violence at the demonstrations….The security establishment still considers the situation along the border tense, and any violence could lead to another delay in the transfer, even if Hamas is not responsible for it. Islamic Jihad and other groups object to Hamas’ position that it is better to maintain relative quiet on the border with Israel in exchange for receiving the Qatari aid money.”

Maariv reports that Russia has warned Israel to stop attacking Syrian territory. Israeli opposition politicians blame Prime Minister and Defence Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that lifting the ambiguity about the Israeli air strikes in Syria forced the Russians to issue the exceptional statement. Former Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman said, “We don’t have to retaliate for every act and every statement. We must do what we must do and we must not concede our security interests, but the policy of ambiguity was helpful, whereas all the prattle contributed nothing and only detracted from Israel’s security.” Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid  said: “He’s not Mr Security, he’s Mr Microphone. After years of quietly and effectively cooperating, Netanyahu’s election chatter compelled the Russians to speak out against us in the Syrian sector. It will take years to fix the damage from a single irresponsible statement.” The Likud issued a response saying: “Chief of Staff Eisenkot said this month in his farewell address that there were no political considerations in the Prime Minister’s decisions. That says it all about the baseless defamation by Yair Lapid, whose security experience can be summed up in a few articles he published in the IDF magazine Bamahane.”

Yossi Melman writes in Maariv that this was a one-sided statement from Russia that did not mention the Iranian surface-to-surface missile “Russia’s interests remain as they were: stabilising Assad’s regime and establishing its military, political and economic status in Syria. Any action that is liable to interfere with these goals is interpreted as endangering Russian interests. That said, it might be that the Kremlin is recalculating its route. Perhaps it has become indifferent toward the exchange of blows between Israel and Iran as long as they do not jeopardise Assad’s regime. And perhaps the opposite—perhaps it is now in Russia’s interest that both sides in fact clash more, in the hope that this will only expedite the achievement of their goal: bringing about a withdrawal of all foreign troops from Syria (the US, unrelated to this, decided to this anyway), particularly Iran, and to leave Russia as the sole foreign force left in the country.”

Yediot Ahronot and Haaretz both report that the teenager suspected of murdering Aisha Rabi by throwing a stone at her car has been charged with manslaughter. The teenager broke his long silence during questioning last weekend and gave a story that explained how even though his DNA was found on the stone that caused her death, he wasn’t the one who threw it. As of now it is unknown what kind of DNA was found on the stone and with what degree of certainty it belongs to the suspect. Experts said that the evidence was strong enough to substantiate the allegations against him.

In election news, Kan radio publish their latest poll. If elections were held today, the Likud would become the largest party with 31 seats. Benny Gantz’s Israel Resilience Party would win 15 seats. Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid would win 11 seats, Avi Gabbay’s Labour Party would win nine seats, the New Right would win eight seats, and Meretz would win six seats. Moshe Kahlon’s Kulanu would receive four seats.  Tzipi Livni’s Hatnua would not cross the electoral threshold. The survey also found that more than half of the public, 54%, support the Attorney General announcing whether he would indict the Prime Minister before the election. Yediot Ahronot notes that Israel Resilience Party Chairman Benny Gantz is expected to break his silence and launch his election campaign in Tel Aviv next week. He is expected to present his positions on the Palestinian issue, as well as on security, society and the economy. He is not planning to hold a press conference or answer questions but only to give a speech, It is also anticipated that he will declare his candidacy for prime minister, signalling to Yair Lapid that if he wants to join forces he will have to concede being first. The paper also suggests Gantz and the former Chief of Staff and Defence Minister Moshe (Bogie) Yaalon, have grown closer and will declare a merger. Gantz would also like to have by his side another former Chief of Staff, Gabi Ashkenazi.