BBC News and the Guardian report that Israel has launched missile strikes near the Syrian cities of Damascus and Homs, killing four civilians. The Israeli military targeted military bases from Lebanese airspace on Sunday and stated that it periodically attacks purported threats to Israeli security in Syria. These include what it has identified as advanced weaponry destined for Hezbollah and Iranian bases in Syria. Israel says it will not allow its arch-enemy Iran to entrench itself in Syria. The facilities hit were linked with Iranian forces, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has confirmed.

BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme included interviews this morning about the future of the JCPOA Iran nuclear deal with Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif and former EU High Representative Baroness Cathy Ashton.

Reuters reports that US envoy Jason Greenblatt and Ambassador to Israel David Friedman helped break open a new tunnel at a Jewish heritage site in East Jerusalem, ‘signalling Washington’s support for Israel’s hold over parts of the city that Palestinians seek for a future state.’ Reuters say Palestinians view the project in the Silwan district as ‘moves by Israel to further cement control over areas it captured in the 1967 Middle East war’ and called the US presence at the event a “hostile act”’. Greenblatt and Friedman attended the opening of an excavated road in East Jerusalem that Israeli archaeologists say was used by Jewish pilgrims to Jerusalem two millennia ago. The “Pilgrims’ Road” site is part of the City of David, an open-air Jewish archaeological attraction built within Silwan through purchases of Palestinian property that have at times been contested in court.

The Independent and Reuters report that the Palestinian Authority has arrested a Palestinian businessperson who attended the US-led economic conference in Bahrain last week. The businessperson was identified as Salah Abu Miala. Kan and Haaretz said he was arrested overnight between Friday and Saturday. “Salah attended a wedding party for a family member yesterday and then he disappeared. We haven’t seen him since”, the man’s brother has confirmed.

The Guardian, Financial Times and Reuters report that Russia and Saudi Arabia have agreed to extend a deal with Opec on reducing oil output by six to nine months, as oil prices come under renewed pressure from rising US supplies and a stagnating global economy. Russia President Vladimir Putin said that the deal would be extended in its current form and with the same volumes. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other producers, an alliance known as Opec+, will meet today to discuss the deal, which involves curbing oil output by 1.2 million barrels per day.  The Financial Times reports that Iran will not block an extension of the production deal, but Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh has warned that the cartel could “die” if Saudi Arabia and Russia continue to “unilaterally” set output policy. Reuters reports that Oil prices rose more than $1 a barrel on Monday in response to the announcement.

The Telegraph and Independent report that LGBT activists were targeted with tear gas by Istanbul police on Sunday during the Istanbul Pride parade. Participants had defied authorities to march after the event was banned. Police allowed the rally organisers to make a short speech to the media, before firing tear gas canisters to disperse the crowd. Police dogs and water cannon vehicles were also brought to the scene. The Istanbul governor’s office had issued a ban on the event for the fifth year in a row, citing security concerns.

Reuters reports that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has praised Saudi Arabia’s efforts to reduce its dependence on oil and promised Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman that Japan will help the kingdom with its reform plan. “Saudi Arabia’s ‘Vision 2030’ is an unprecedented major reform aimed at shifting away from dependence on oil and at diversifying industry, under your majesty’s initiative,” Abe told the crown prince at the beginning of a bilateral meeting after the G20 summit in Osaka.

Reuters reports that Taliban suicide bombers killed at least 19 people in an attack on a government office on Saturday night, in the latest episode of violence in Afghanistan. Election workers were registering voters ahead of presidential elections in September at an office in the Maroof district of the southern Kandahar province when fighters of the Islamist group launched an attack using four Humvee vehicles.

Reuters reports that Middle Eastern funds plan to continue increasing their investments in Kuwait over the next three months, while largely keeping their exposure to other countries in the region at current levels. Six of the 11 fund managers who took part in a Reuters poll said they would increase their investments in Kuwait, whilst a third of managers said they would increase investment in Egypt, and the same proportion said they would decrease investment in Qatar.

In the Independent, Bel Trew argues that the current mental health crisis in Gaza has been exacerbated by an upsurge in violence and funding cuts to vital psychosocial support programmes.

In the Israeli media Yediot Ahronot and Haaretz report that US Ambassador to Israel David Friedman and President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt broke open a new tunnel during a ceremony inaugurating the “Path of the Pilgrims” underneath the Silwan neighbourhood in East Jerusalem near the Old City. Haaretz writes that: “The decision of the senior American diplomats to attend the Sunday event is seen as another move by the Trump administration to recognise Israeli sovereignty in East Jerusalem, which previous US administrations have avoided.” In a tweet on Sunday, Greenblatt said the Palestinian Authority: “Claims our attendance at this historic event supports ‘Judaization’ of Jerusalem/is an act of hostility vs. Palestinians. Ludicrous. We can’t ‘Judaize’ what history/archaeology show. We can acknowledge it & you can stop pretending it isn’t true! Peace can only be built on truth.”

Maariv reports that the Labour Party is preparing for its primary election tomorrow. MK Amir Peretz, MK Itzik Shmuli and MK Stav Shaffir are competing to become the new party leader. In a rally held in Tel Aviv yesterday, Peretz said: “If I’m elected,  Netanyahu will not be prime minister. All the data show that the Labor Party, headed by me, will soar to 15 seats, four of which will come from the right-wing bloc. That is our potential. This will bring victory to the centre-left bloc.” Ehud Barak continued yesterday to recruit new candidates to his party announcing that Yair (Yaya) Fink, a close associate of MK Shelly Yachimovich, who was 12th on the Labour Party list for the last Knesset, was joining. This morning, Gil Hoffman of the Jerusalem Post reports that Yitzchak Rabin’s granddaughter is also joining Barak’s party. In other related election news, Yediot Ahronot reports on the new campaign film that Avigdor Lieberman will launch today consisting of a personal attack against Binyamin Netanyahu, alleging that he has caved in to the Orthodox.

Maariv reports on comments by the Prime Minister’s son, Yair Netanyahu, about the Druze Community that erupted via twitter over the weekend. Channel Thirteen News reported that a former Druze IAF pilot, Rani Rahav, posted on Twitter: “The time has come, in honour of the glorious Druze community, to revise the nation-state law immediately. We are one!” Within minutes, Yair Netanyahu tweeted (paraphrasing David Ben-Gurion’s declaration of Independence) “We hereby declare the establishment of the Jewish-Druze State of Israel, the State of Israeldruzestan.” Netanyahu later wrote: “What about the Christians and the Bedouins and the Muslims who serve in the IDF? Should we call ourselves the Jewish/Druze/Muslim/Christian/Circassian state, and add a cross and a crescent to the flag?”

Ben Caspit writes that: “His tweets elicited an uproar among the Druze. After all, he is the prime minister’s son. He posts what he has learned and heard at home. The uproar spread throughout the Druze social media.” Brig. Gen. Hasson Hasson, a high profile Druze former IDF officer said in an interview: “We no longer know what to think. How can someone tweet this? What was this kid taught at home? Today there are Druze in every branch. In all the elite units, including the Air Force, everywhere. The blood of the two Druze Border Police who were murdered defending the Temple Mount, of the policeman who blocked the terrorists in a synagogue, has still not dried. We are an inseparable part of this country. It’s time that someone explained this to the prime minister’s son. I expect Netanyahu the father to do this. I know and respect Binyamin Netanyahu. I have met with him many times on important and sensitive operations. He knows the community well, he knows its contribution. I expect Bibi to educate his son. That’s all.”

Kan Radio reports that the Palestinian Authority is searching for Ashraf Ghanem because he attended the conference in Bahrain. Ghanem did not know where else to turn after PA security forces raided his home and confiscated his passports, ID cards and credit cards. The businessman, Ashraf Ghanem, gave his first interview since his home was raided over the weekend. He said that he had no intention of turning himself in and called the PA a band of bloodthirsty terrorists who he said had threatened to kill him before he left for the economic conference in Bahrain.

The weekend papers focus on the reported truce arrangement between Israel and Hamas. Maariv reports that after provocations on the Gaza border and the use of incendiary balloons, which continued after the truce was reportedly agreed, an Israeli political official said: “We will reinstate the sanctions against Hamas, including a reduction in fuel and electricity, if quiet is not preserved – and at the same time we are preparing for a military option.” The truce arrangement drew harsh criticism from senior opposition figures against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his policy of containment vis-à-vis Hamas. “Netanyahu has capitulated to Hamas once again,” wrote the former prime minister, Ehud Barak, on Twitter. “After hundreds of fires, we have once again come to another problematic deal that might barely be worth a few days. In the absence of a decision about objectives and the way [to achieve those objectives], deterrence has been eroded and the government has been taken hostage by Hamas, which sets the ground on fire when it wants to and builds up its strength when it wants to. It’s time for leadership with the courage to win.” Analysis in Yediot Ahronot argues that “The mediators anticipate that if quiet is maintained over the next few days, the truce arrangement will enter its next stage, which will include several major projects. “In an attempt to demonstrate that real progress is being made on the ground, this morning surveyors will begin work on the establishment of a large field hospital on a 40-dunam plot near the Erez crossing. That field hospital, which will have 16 departments, will be run by an international team of doctors and is to be built with funds that have been allocated by a private American organisation with Israeli approval. The hospital is supposed to significantly improve the health care that is provided to Palestinian residents of the Gaza Strip.”