The main item of Israel related coverage in the UK media today is the Israeli response to the rocket barrage launched from Hamas controlled Gaza in the last few days, and the deaths of a number of Palestinian civilians in Gaza yesterday, as the IDF responded to mortar fire. The Guardian, Independent, Times, Reuters and BBC Online cover the latest developments. In other items, the Guardian, Independent, Daily Express, Evening Standard, Scotsman, BBC Online, Metro-London and Sky News Online note the jailing of former Israeli President Moshe Katzav for rape. The Guardian, Scotsman, Reuters and BBC Online note the deaths of a further six protestors at the hands of security forces in Syria. Reuters notes the passing of a law in Israel which would deny state funding to institutions that question the country’s existence as a Jewish state. BBC Online, meanwhile, speaks to Gazans campaigning for Palestinian unity and notes the Hamas authorities attempts to crack down on them. The Independent notes Hamas’s objections to the teaching of the Holocaust in UN schools in Gaza. The paper also has a letter castigating the responses of British university authorities to recent attacks on Jewish, pro-Israel students. The Guardian has a piece by an Israeli journalist looking into Israeli responses to the uprisings in the region. 

In the Israeli media, all papers focus on the launching of  Grad rockets at Beersheva this morning from Gaza. All papers also note the continuing unrest in Syria and the death of six protestors in the southern Syrian city of Deraa. Haaretz quotes Defence Minister Ehud Barak who said in a speech yesterday that Israel faces a diplomatic ‘tsunami’ in September, as the date for a possible unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood approaches. All papers also report on the jailing of former President Moshe Katzav for rape. Maariv notes remarks by Vice Premier Silvan Shalom, who said earlier today that if the situation in Gaza does not change, there will be no choice but to launch a wider IDF operation. Ynetnews and the Jerusalem Post report that the Knesset passed a controversial bill late last night. The ‘Nakba Bill’ will require the state to fine local authorities and other state-funded bodies for holding events marking the Palestinian Nakba day, supporting armed resistance or racism against Israel, or desecrating the state flag or national symbols.