The uprising in Syria continues to dominate Middle East coverage in the UK media. The Daily Telegraph reports that Turkey may establish a military ‘buffer zone’ within Syria to house refugees. The Financial Times and Reuters note the resignation from business activities of Rami Makhlouf, cousin of the Syrian president, and a widely vilified figure among Syrian oppositionists. In other articles, the Guardian and Reuters note the deaths of four people in a suspected gas explosion in Netanya. The Daily Telegraph reports protests against rising food prices in Israel. The Times has an article by a reporter who was refused entry into Lebanon. The Jewish Chronicle notes new US efforts on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, and has a piece quoting President Shimon Peres’s scepticism regarding Palestinian unilateral efforts to secure recognition of Palestinian statehood. The Economist has an article on the Turkish election results and their implications. Metro London and the Guardian note Iran’s launching of a second satellite this week. The Times notes the Palestinian Authority’s continued refusal to enter negotiations with Israel unless a renewed freeze on building in settlements in the West Bank is imposed. The Financial Times has a piece suggesting that the Arab spring has laid bare contradictions in Saudi Arabia’s relations with the US.

In the Israeli media, all papers report on the explosion in Netanya, suspected to have been caused by a gas leak. Haaretz notes an interview with President Shimon Peres in which he expressed his fears that Israel will become a bi-national state if the peace process fails. Haaretz also quotes an Egyptian judge who denies claims that Egypt is set to charge an American-Israeli detained there with espionage. The Jerusalem Post notes Israeli claims that a United Nations Relief Works Agecny report on the Gaza education system is false and biased. All papers report the firing of a Qassam rocket on southern Israel yesterday. Ynetnews notes Peres’s scepticism regarding Palestinian unilateralism.