Reuters reports that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu voiced confidence on Sunday that Washington would give Israel the nod within two months to move ahead with annexation of parts of the occupied West Bank.

The Associated Press reports that Israeli warplanes flying over Lebanon fired missiles toward areas near Damascus early on Monday, the Syrian military said, claiming the country’s air defences shot most of them down.

Reuters reports that Israel allowed some businesses to reopen on Sunday and said it was considering letting children return to school as part of trial efforts to ease coronavirus restrictions and help the country’s struggling economy.

The Guardian, Reuters and BBC News report that the Saudi Arabian-backed government in Yemen has warned of a catastrophe if the country’s powerful separatist movement forges ahead with its declaration of self-rule over the key port city of Aden and other southern provinces. Reuters reports that the Saudi-led coalition engaged in Yemen on Monday urged a main separatist group that declared self-rule in the south to rescind its move, saying it was an “escalatory action” at a time all parties should focus on confronting the novel coronavirus. The Associated Press reports that the Saudi-led coalition urged Emirati-backed separatists to honour terms of a Riyadh peace deal and return control of Aden to the country’s internationally recognized government.

The Telegraph, BBC News, The Guardian, The Independent, the Associated Press and Reuters report that Saudi Arabia has abolished flogging as a punishment, the state human rights commission said on Saturday, hailing a “major step forward” in the reform programme launched by the king and his powerful son, days after a human rights activist died in custody.

Reuters reports that Iran plans to reopen mosques in parts of the country that have been consistently free of the coronavirus outbreak, President Hassan Rouhani said on Sunday.

The Times reports that an Egyptian social media star has been arrested on suspicion of “promoting debauchery” and human trafficking after appearing in a video channel’s online advertisement.

The Times reports that a teenager has been killed by an extremist militia in Syria after being found guilty of blasphemy.

The Associated Press reports that the crash in oil prices in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic is reverberating across the Middle East as crude-dependent countries including Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia scramble to offset losses from a key source of state revenue.

The Financial Times reports that Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund will remain “very active” through the coronavirus pandemic as the oil-rich Gulf investor searches for deals in the health and technology industries.

In The Independent, Bel Trew shows that with access to scant supplies, Gaza is turning to homemade equipment to battle the coronavirus, finding creative ways to fight Covid-19 from building makeshift ventilators to 3D-printing face shields.

In the Financial Times, Andrew England argues that the coronavirus has deepened the frustrations of younger demographics in the Middle East, as the virus stopped protests in Iraq, Algeria and Lebanon, but is “likely to fuel a fresh wave of unrest”.

In The Times, Louise Callaghan writes that Instanbul’s population is now taking the coronavirus seriously, as the threat of a major outbreak in Turkey has grown considerably over recent weeks.

All the Israeli media report that there are now 15,466 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Israel, while 202 people have died. There are 129 people are in serious condition, of which 96 patients are on ventilators. The number of recoveries has now exceeded the number of new diagnoses for the eleventh day in a row. Kan Radio News reports that the Prime Minister will hold a meeting this afternoon on reopening schools. The Health Ministry wants the decision to be based on morbidity so that no schools reopen in areas where the infection rate is high. Yesterday the cabinet cancelled the ban on people going no further than 500 metres from their homes in the course of sports activity. The decision will only go into effect after Independence Day, at 8:00am on Thursday morning. Last night the Supreme Court upheld the petitions against using the Shin Bet security service to track citizens who are suspected of having been infected with the coronavirus. The court ruled that the state could not continue to use the Shin Bet after Thursday unless it began, by then, to authorise this in legislation. It ruled that the legislative process must be completed within a few weeks. Haaretz notes that in the West Bank, 480 cases have been diagnosed so far, two people have died. In Gaza, 17 cases have been diagnosed, eight of which have recovered.

All the Israeli media report that Health Minister Litzman has informed Prime Minister Netanyahu formally that he wished to leave the Health Ministry and move to the Housing and Construction Ministry. Litzman has demanded an expanded housing and construction portfolio that includes the Israel Land Authority. Maariv speculates on the identity of the next health minister, noting that both Blue and White and current Defence Minister Naftali Bennett are interested in holding the position. Maariv also has a poll that suggests 46 per cent of the public want a medical professional – a director of a hospital as the next health minister. Yediot Ahronot includes harsh criticism that Litzman was only concerned for his own ultra-Orthodox community.

Israeli media report that according to Syrian officials, Israel attacked targets in the Damascus area early this morning. The Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) claimed Syrian air defence systems intercepted “hostile targets” over the capital Damascus. According to the report, the air defence system intercepted “the Israeli aggressor” that had come from Lebanese airspace and shot down a few rockets before they reached their targets. SANA reported three civilians were killed and four injured, including a child. Haaretz notes, “Israel rarely confirms attacks and it did not comment on the latest missiles strike. Israel has said, however, that it has been behind a series of airstrikes mainly targeting Iranian and Lebanese Hezbollah forces in Syria that are alongside Syrian government forces. Israel has also in the past used Lebanon’s airspace to launch attacks on Syria.”