BBC News, Sky News and The Financial Times report on the release of US Navy veteran Michael White, who has been detained by Iran since July 2018. White was arrested after travelling to the city of Mashad and was sentenced to prison on unspecified charges last year. In March he was transferred to the Swiss embassy on medical furlough following the coronavirus outbreak across Iran. President Donald Trump tweeted yesterday that White was in a Swiss plane and would “be home with his family in American very soon” and thanked the Swiss for their assistance in securing White’s release. His release came a day after Iranian scientist Sirous Asgari returned to Iran after facing charges of stealing trade secrets in 2016, but US and Iranian officials denied this was a prisoner swap. Confirming White’s release, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif also said that Iranian medical doctor held in the US, Majid Taheri, would return to Iran shortly as well.

BBC News and The Independent report that Iran may be facing a second wave of the coronavirus after thousands of new cases were recorded this week. On Wednesday the Health Ministry reported 3,574 new cases, a third consecutive day of cases exceeding 3,000 and bringing the overall total to 164,270. Fifty-nine more people have died, raising the total number of coronavirus related fatalities in Iran to 8,071. While Iran has been reducing lockdown measures over the last two months to reduce the strain on its economy, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned that restrictions may be re-imposed if social distance guidelines are not followed.

BBC News and The Guardian report that UN-backed forces have regained full control of Tripoli from Russian-backed General Khalifa Haftar following his 14-month siege of the city. Government of National Accord (GNA) forces were able to recapture the capital and its airport after military support from Turkey helped drive away Khalifa’s forces. BBC News reports that the recapturing the international airport is the strongest symbolic victory by the GNA so far.

Amid an ongoing strife between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his billionaire cousin Rami Makhlouf, Reuters reports that a Syrian court has ordered Makhlouf’s Syriatel be placed under judicial custody. According to a document posted on the court’s Facebook page, Makhlouf had his assets seized over back payments to the Syrian telecom regulator. Makhlouf responded to the court decision in a number of video messages saying that he had been told to quit as head of Syriatel.

Anshel Pfeffer writes in The Economist that in trying to keep ministers in eight parties happy, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has “broken up existing departments and created new ones in order to reward allies and buy off opponents,” thus forming the biggest government in Israeli history.

In The Financial Times Najmeh Bozorgmehr writes about Iran’s oil shipments to Venezuela, arguing that in sending five Iranian flagged oil tankers across some of the world’s most crucial maritime gateways, “Iran intended to send a clear message: that it was determined to challenge US policies more aggressively than before”.

All the Israeli media report on the latest Health Ministry update of 118 new cases of coronavirus in the last 24 hours. There are currently 2,191 patients with the disease, among them 30 are in serious condition, of them 23 are on ventilators. In the middle of April, at the country’s peak, there were 140 patients on ventilators. The Health Ministry also reported that around 11,000 coronavirus tests were conducted on Thursday, and 13,000 tests were conducted on Wednesday  – the highest amount of such tests in over a month. However the testing laboratories have limited capacity of trained staff able to process all the tests. Yesterday 87 schools and kindergartens across the country closed after students or staff members tested positive for the coronavirus. Since the reopening of schools, 301 students and school staff have tested positive for the virus.

Kan Radio News reports that at least nine people were killed in an air strike last night in Masyaf in the Hama province of northwest Syria, which was attributed to Israel. According to the UK based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, four of the nine killed were Syrians, who may have been working with the Syrian forces or for Iran. It was also reported that army warehouses belonging to the Syrian Defence Ministry north of Masyaf were struck and badly damaged. A Syrian army source said that the Israeli planes had attacked from Lebanese airspace and that Syrian anti-aircraft systems intercepted some of the missiles.

Yediot Ahronot reports that in an unusual move the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem Aryeh Stern has appoint a special adviser for Arab affairs, in an attempt to promote coexistence and good neighbourly relations. As far as is known, this is the first time a rabbi in the public service, in the national or local Chief Rabbinate, has requested counsel on this issue. The paper suggests, “Sources close to the rabbi explained that he wished to follow in the footsteps of Rabbi Avraham Yitzhak Hacohen Kook, the first chief rabbi of the Land of Israel, who worked to strengthen relations between the peoples and between the Arab leadership.” The move follows the Rabbi’s visit earlier this week to the family of Iyad Halaq, the Palestinian man with a disability, who was killed by Israel border police last Friday. Channel 12 News reports that former Likud MK Yehuda Glick also visited the bereaved family of Iyad Halaq in East Jerusalem yesterday. However, he was attacked, while a member of the grieving family tried to protect him and was taken to hospital in an ambulance, where he is now recovering. From hospital he told Israeli TV, “I went in the name of people who want peace, a gesture of goodwill. When I entered the home and presented myself to the mourners, around 10 people suddenly grabbed me, lifted me up and threw me down a flight and a half of stairs.” Glick said other people then began hitting and kicking him, before a relative of Halak’s tried to distance the assailants. Glick is a prominent activist for Jewish prayer rights on the Temple Mount. In 2014 he survived an assassination attempt when he was shot and seriously wounded.