The BBC, The Independent, The Guardian and Sky News report that the UK’s position on arms sales to Israel remains “unchanged”, Lord Cameron has said. The foreign secretary made the comment after being asked about the latest advice his government has received on whether the country has been breaching international law in Gaza.

In The Times, Roger Boyes argues that banning arms sales to Israel “makes no sense” – that an absence of exports would alienate key allies.

The Guardian reports on which countries supply arms to Israel, with some of the reasons why Joe Biden is reluctant to stop selling them. The Guardian also reports more on Joe Biden, including his push for a ceasefire.

In The Telegraph, Sherelle Jacobs argues that in loosening support for Israel, the West is “waving a white flag to terrorists”.

The Financial Times publishes a piece saying: “Israel has rarely been so isolated. But rather than moderate its war aims, it is toughing out the intensifying international criticism of its conduct and hunkering down in defiance.”

The Financial Times reports that Hamas said on Tuesday that the latest Israeli proposal in hostage deal talks did not meet any of its demands, after senior Israeli officials said progress had been made in the long-running negotiations.

The Telegraph reports that Iran is smuggling weapons to the occupied West Bank in an apparent attempt to foment unrest as part of its ongoing shadow war with Israel, according to US intelligence officials. Iran has been operating smuggling routes across the Middle East with the help of intelligence operatives, militants and criminal gangs to bring weapons to the West Bank, several security officials from the United States, Israel and Iran told the New York Times on Tuesday.

The Times reports that an activist group affiliated with Just Stop Oil has sprayed Labour’s headquarters in London with red paint in protest against the party’s position on the conflict in Gaza. Youth Demand activists covered the lobby and outside walls of the party’s offices in Southwark, accusing the opposition party of having “blood on their hands”. The Sun reports on a separate but linked incident: “Rishi Sunak has slammed pro-Palestine protesters for surrounding the home of Sir Keir Starmer. The Prime Minister said no MP should be “harassed at their own home” after young activists linked to Just Stop Oil staged a demonstration outside the Labour leader’s residence in North London”.

The Sun also reports that Israel is preparing to strike Iranian nuclear plants if faced with a revenge attack for the death of a top Tehran commander last week. Netanyahu’s war cabinet has been locked in crunch meetings over fears that Iran will launch an assault as Middle East tensions threaten to boil over into all-out war.

All the Israeli media continue to speculate over the possibility of hostage deal. This morning Kan Radio reported that Israeli officials are still waiting for Hamas’s response to the latest American proposal. An Israeli political official is quoted saying, “We aren’t counting on Sinwar, but the ball is currently in his court.”

Yediot Ahronot includes more details on the parameters of a deal. Based on a report in the Wall Street Journal, forty hostages would be released, over a six-week ceasefire, while in return 900 Palestinian security prisoners will be released. In addition, Israel will allow 150,000 Gazans to return to the northern Gaza Strip. However, the paper cautioned that gaps remain. Among the disagreements, “the circumstances under which displaced Palestinians will be allowed to return to the northern Gaza Strip, whether the six-week pause in fighting will become permanent, and the identity of the Palestinian prisoners who are to be released from Israeli prisons.”

According to Channel 12 News, Israel would have the right to veto some of the prisoners on Hamas’s list, whist some of those released will not be allowed to return home, but relocated elsewhere, similar to agreements reached in the Shalit deal. Based on Hamas sources, the report claims Hamas is currently holding less than 70 living hostages, out of a list of 133 hostages. Last Saturday, the IDF recovered the body of Elad Katzir, who was kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7. Katzir was murdered by his captors, Islamic Jihad terrorists, while in captivity.

All the papers also cover the security cabinet meeting last night. According to Maariv, Finance Minister Smotrich demanded that any hostage deal must include an Israeli commitment to resume fighting after the deal’s conclusion, including an operation in Rafah. Members of Ben Gvir’s Jewish Power faction threatened to quit the coalition in the event that Israel were to agree to a permanent ceasefire.

Haaretz suggests there is a contradiction, following Prime Minister Netanyahu’s comments earlier this week that a date has been set for an operation in Rafah. The paper reports that Israel’s Defence Minister Gallant told US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin that “there is no specific day for the operation in Rafah.” In addition, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan is also quoted saying that the US “still hasn’t seen a credible and executable plan to account for Rafah evacuation and civilian care.”

Channel 13 News reports that thousands of Gazans have already begun to leave Rafah and are heading for Khan Yunis following the IDF withdrawal. The report suggested that if no hostage deal was reached the IDF is prepared to begin to evacuate the civilian population from the Rafah area as early as next week. The IDF plan includes using planes to drop leaflets and sending text messages to Gazans’ telephones calling on the population in Rafah to leave. The IDF is expected to surround the city and to create “humanitarian exits” for use by the civilian population moving northward. However, Israel Hayom suggests that any operation in Rafah may be postponed “for a long time.”

In a continuation of hostilities on Israel’s northern border, Kan Radio reported that last night that the IDF attacked military infrastructure in Syria that served Hezbollah. This was in addition to other Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure that was struck in southern Lebanon. Army Radio interviewed Education Minister Yoav Kisch, who said that if residents of the north cannot return to their homes by the beginning of the coming school year (in September), the government will have failed them.

Israel Hayom reports that Israel will retaliate in kind after Turkey imposed restrictions on trade with Israel. Foreign Minister Israel Katz announced Tuesday that Israel would prepare trade restrictions on products from Turkey, in response to Ankara’s decision to restrict exports to Israel. Katz wrote on X that Turkish President “Erdogan is once again sacrificing the economic interests of the people of Turkiye for his support of the Hamas murderers in Gaza who raped, murdered and desecrated the bodies of women, girls, adults, and burned children alive.” The paper noted these comments followed Turkey’s announcement that it would restrict exports of a wide range of products to Israel, including steel and jet fuel, until a ceasefire is declared