Jim Muir reports for BBC News about how recent violent eruptions across Beirut have fuelled fears of a return to civil war in Lebanon. He writes about how the October 14 clashes “rang strident alarm bells” for residents of the city because of the location of the fighting. That is where the civil war began in April of 1975, as a result of various incidents that “culminated in the shooting-up by Christian militiamen of a busload of Palestinians, killing more than 20”.

A video report from BBC News examines Kuwait’s “unbearable heat”. As climate change has impacted the globe, temperatures in the Middle East are rising much faster than the rest of the world, with Kuwait reporting numbers topping 53 degrees Celsius. The video report interviews three people about the urgent need for action, with 2021 set to be the hottest year to date.

The Financial Times and Reuters report that a cyberattack has disrupted Iran’s petrol stations. The attack targeted the electronic card payment system. Speaking to state television on Tuesday evening Abolhassan Firoozabadi, the secretary of the Supreme Council of Cyber Space, said: “The attack which took place … and was witnessed as a broad disruption had the characteristics of a cyberattack. The disruption was related not to the distribution or production of fuel at all but to the cyber management of petrol stations.” Firoozabadi added that the attack was likely carried out by a foreign country.

The Times reports on an Iranian pilot exiled in Turkey who fears that his return to Iran will result in his execution. Mehrdad Abdarbashi reportedly escaped a kidnap attempt last month by two Iranian agents. The suspected kidnappers appeared in court earlier this month and face charges of espionage and conspiracy to commit a crime. Abdarbashi defected from the Iranian military while in service during the Syrian conflict. He told Al Jazeera that he believes Iran will come after him again “and this time they won’t try to kidnap me, this time they will just kill me”.

BBC News reports that a former top ranking Saudi intelligence official has claimed Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman wanted to kill his father, King Abdullah, with a “poison ring”. Speaking to CBS News, Saad al-Jabri said bin Salman was a “psychopath, killer, in the Middle East with infinite resources, who poses threat to his people, to the Americans and to the planet”.

The Telegraph reports that the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall are set to travel to Egypt and Jordan next month, marking their first major international trip in two years. They are due to visit between 16-19 November, with climate change being a key theme of the trip.

The Telegraph and The Guardian report on the latest developments in the coup underway in Sudan. Writing in The Telegraph, Campbell MacDiarmid argues that the coup is an “act of defiance towards the UK and the US”. He says there is potential for a violent eruption due to the military underestimating Sudan’s robust civil society. The Guardian reports that the deposed prime minister has been allowed to return home, while other ministers remain in detention and could face trial for inciting the rebellion.

The Times reports that the top general responsible for the coup in Sudan has said his actions are saving Sudan from a civil war. The paper notes: “Disputes had been worsening for months between the civilian and military factions of Sudan’s transitional government, which had been in place since mass protests toppled the dictator Omar al-Bashir in 2019.” Justifying his actions, General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan said, “What the country is going through now is a real threat and danger to the dreams of the youth and the hopes of the nation.”

The Independent reports that a former US counterterrorism official has warned the world is at more risk until the UK takes responsibility for its nationals detained in Syrian camps. The paper also quotes former director of public prosecutions Lord Macdonald, who compares the Syrian camps to US-run Guantanamo Bay. He is quoted: “I think we’re just demonstrating an unwillingness to take responsibility, I think it’s an embarrassment personally … a coward’s form of Guantanamo.”

Megan Gibson writes in The New Statesman about the ongoing crises in Turkey. Gibson notes: “As the country’s currency falls and domestic opposition surges, Turkey’s president deals with a diplomatic crisis of his own making.”

The Economist reports on a recent war game in Israel that included the Americans, French and British. The paper notes that “the foes of wargames are fictitious. But in the minds of the hosts, the monster is real: Iran. Israeli officers were at pains to say the exercise was ‘generic’. Yet Dragonland’s force, with its drones and air-defence missiles, was akin to Iran’s. Exercises to defeat it ‘are part of the capabilities that are needed to face Iran,’ noted one general.”

In the Israeli media, Maariv writes about the Biden administration’s disapproval over Israel’s decision to move forward with plans to build 3,000 housing units in settlements in the West Bank. The US tried to press Israel not to make the move, or at least to reduce the number of units that were ultimately approved. Acting US ambassador to Israel, Michael Ratney, told Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s Foreign Policy Adviser Shimrit Meir that the US felt the decision was very serious. Ratney said the Americans were particularly concerned about the fact that two-thirds of the plans that were approved were for isolated settlements deep in the West Bank, far outside the settlement blocs.

Israel Hayom follows comments made by Jerusalem’s mayor who dismissed media speculation that a US consulate for Palestinians in the city would be denied municipal services if the Biden administration reopens it. Speaking with Army Radio, Moshe Lion said: “No way … there is no such intention. Wherever the municipality has to provide services, it will provide services.” Speaking about the US desire to reopen its consulate in Jerusalem, Lion said: “I very much hope that the diplomatic officials, the government of Israel, will prevent the establishment of this consulate. I think that is what is happening right now. I don’t think we are on very high stand-by for this [consulate] getting built.”

Yossi Yehoshua and Nir Dvori, the military affairs correspondents for Yediot Ahronot and Channel 12 News respectively, weigh in this morning on the cyberattack that paralysed gas pumps at stations across Iran yesterday. Neither explicitly cite which country they surmise to be responsible for the cyberattack, although Yehoshua appears to insinuate that Israel was behind it. “The people responsible for the attack do not appear willing either to make do with air strikes against Iranian targets in Syria and elsewhere or to wait for the Americans to reach an agreement about the Iranian nuclear program while Tehran is busy at the same time tightening its grip on Iraq and Yemen,” writes Yehoshua. Meanwhile, Dvori says the purpose of conducting the cyberattack was “in hope of creating frustration and a sense of bitterness among the Iranian public—from north to south—and, by so doing, to influence the decision-makers at the heart of the Iranian regime. The central objective that guided the people behind the cyberattack was to apply pressure on the regime to return to the negotiating table to discuss re-entering the JCPOA, talks that have stalled”.

Yediot Ahronot publishes a commentary by Giora Eiland who says that whilst the US and Iran have expressed a desire to return to the JCPOA nuclear agreement, the gap between them appears unbridgeable. Eiland says that were talks in Vienna to collapse, Israel must be prepared for at least two possible scenarios of open military conflict with Iran. “The first is a direct attack on Israel with missiles and unmanned drones, either by Iran or by militias under Iran’s control. That type of attack was carried out two years ago on Saudi Arabia’s oil infrastructure. The second scenario concerns Iran’s nuclear programme … Israel must have the capability to attack Iran’s nuclear installations. Possessing that ability is important not only because of the need to be able to use it if and when it becomes necessary to do so but also in order to demonstrate to the international community that Israel’s threats are real, prompting it to make greater efforts to make sure the agreement it signs with Iran is also acceptable to Israel.”

Haaretz reports that the Biden administration is considering waiving visa requirements for Israeli citizens who want to visit the US for up to three months. The White House said in August after a meeting between President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett that Biden emphasised “his administration would strengthen bilateral cooperation with Israel in ways that would benefit both US citizens and Israeli citizens, including by working together towards Israel’s inclusion in the Visa Waiver Program”. However, to participate in the programme, Israel must meet requirements related to counterterrorism, law enforcement, immigration enforcement, document security, and border management. The US has not commented on how many requirements Israel is still required to meet.

Walla writes about the Four Joint List MKs who met last night in Ramallah with representatives of the six Palestinian NGOs that were designated terror organisations by Israel last week. The MKs in attendance were Aida Touma-Sliman, Osama Saadi, Ofer Cassif and Sami Abu Shehadeh. They were joined by Mohammed Barakeh, the former deputy Knesset speaker, who chairs the Arab Israeli Supreme Monitoring Committee. The MKs said: “In an upside-down world in which a government that is further entrenching the occupation calls itself a ‘government of change’ and the defence minister has the gall to declare human rights organisations of international repute terror organisations. That is a precedent-setting and dangerous decision.” The MKs added that they would fight the decision “on all planes — including the international [arena],” and criticised the Meretz and the United Arab List parties for being part of the coalition government.

Kan Radio reports the Health Ministry vaccinations committee met last night to discuss the FDA decision to approve the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine for children as young as five. Israel is expected to recommend vaccinating children once a final American decision is made. A vaccination drive in Israel will likely commence within a few weeks, after vaccine doses for children arrive in the country. The Health Ministry wants vaccines to be administered in schools because that is the most effective way to do it.