Reuters, Bloomberg and the Daily Mail report on the progress of US President Donald Trump’s Israel-Palestinian peace plan. Reuters reports that according to Israel’s UN Ambassador, Danny Danon on Tuesday, the United States has spoken with Israel about possibly presenting a long-awaited Middle East peace plan at the start of next year, which could avoid interfering with the country’s election. “We don’t know the details of the plan but we know that it’s completed. So now the question is when they will submit it. As far as we know they speak with us about the beginning of ‘19,” Danon told reporters. At the annual United Nations gathering of world leaders in September, Trump said in a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he wanted to unveil a peace plan over the next two to three months. Bloomberg reports that Ambassador Danon told reporters in New York on Tuesday, that “we are all waiting for the peace plan of President Trump and we know that it’s completed”. The Daily Mail reports that Iran has vowed to fight US President Trump’s Israel-Palestinian deal, parliament speaker Ali Larijani said Tuesday according to semi-official news agency ISNA. Speaking in Tehran, Larijani said the “deal of the century” was a “plot” between Iran’s arch foe Israel and the United States to establish the Jewish state’s domination in the Middle East. “We will stand against the regime of Israel and won’t let this deal take place in the region,” Larijani said at an annual conference on Islamic unity. “If Americans are imposing sanctions on Iran today and are putting pressure on Iran, the reason for it is because Iran has stood against Israel,” he added.

The Times,  Reuters and the Guardian report on the continued international backlash facing Saudi Arabia after the murder of Saudi journalist, Jamal Khashoggi. The Times reports that Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince is facing calls for his arrest for war crimes and torture when he arrives in Argentina for the G20 meeting of world leaders on Friday. Human Rights Watch, based in New York, has submitted a writ to Ariel Lijo, a federal judge in Buenos Aires, for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to be tried over the killing of Khashoggi and the war in Yemen. The writ has been passed on to a federal prosecutor, Ramiro González, who will decide whether the case can be pursued in an Argentine court. Argentina’s constitution contains a clause allowing universal jurisdiction in cases of crimes against humanity, war crimes, genocide and torture, meaning that it can prosecute those cases no matter where they occurred in the world or who carried them out. The country previously used those powers to pursue cases against former ministers in the cabinet of General Franco who were accused of torture and unlawful killings during the Spanish civil war. Reuters reports that hundreds of Tunisians staged the first protests of the Arab world against the Saudi Crown Prince as he arrived on a visit on Tuesday, denouncing him as a murderer involved in the killing of Khashoggi. Prince Mohammed was welcomed by Tunisian President Beji Caid Essebsi on arrival at Tunis airport. Tunisian journalists on Monday put up a huge banner at their union showing the prince with a chainsaw, which Turkish sources have said was used to dismember Khashoggi in Istanbul. It read: “No to the pollution of the Tunisian revolution.” The Guardian reports that on Tuesday hundreds more demonstrators carried placards reading “the murderer is not welcome”, in marches organised by youth and women’s rights groups.

The Daily Mail reports that the United States is leading a push at the United Nations to win crucial backing from European countries for a resolution condemning Hamas, the Israeli ambassador said on Tuesday. The General Assembly is expected to vote on Friday or possibly Monday on the proposed resolution condemning rocket firings into Israel and demanding that Hamas end the use of violence. Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon told reporters that US diplomats were in talks with their EU counterparts on the draft text. European backing would significantly boost chances of approval by the 193-nation body. “The US is negotiating the language with the EU,” Danon told a briefing. “For us it’s very symbolic to have this resolution presented with the support of the EU.”

The BBC and the Telegraph report that A British radio host who presented a popular breakfast show in Lebanon has been found dead at his home in Lebanon, in what is a suspected murder. The BBC reports that the body of Gavin Ford, who joined the Lebanese station Radio One in 1995, was discovered on Tuesday in the town of Beit Meri, east of the capital Beirut.  The Telegraph reports that a source from the Internal Security Forces (ISF) told the newspaper, without elaborating, that Ford’s death “was the result of a murder.” A local news website channel reported preliminary findings suggesting that Mr Ford, 53, had been strangled and his hands tied back his back. Injuries to his body suggested he was also struck.

The BBC reports that the US-backed alliance of Syrian Kurdish and Arab fighters is closing in on the last pocket of territory in eastern Syria controlled by the jihadist group, Islamic State. They control only about 1% of the territory they once had. However, the US military has warned that while the jihadists are “in the final throes of their evil ambitions” they are “not yet defeated”. Between 1,500 and 2,000 militants are estimated to be holed up inside the area around the Syrian town of Hajin, in the Middle Euphrates River Valley, where the US says it has witnessed some of the most intense fighting in more than a year.

In the Israeli media  Channel 10 News reports that Tel Aviv District Attorney Liat Ben Ari has recommended that Prime Minister Netanyahu and Yediot Ahronot publisher Noni Mozes be charged with bribery in Case 2,000. Ben Ari’s summary of Case 2,000, which was submitted to State Attorney Shai Nitzan, indicates that she believes that both Netanyahu and Mozes should be charged with bribery. Ben Ari has already recommended to Nitzan that Netanyahu be charged with bribery in Case 1,000 (the gifts affair). The state attorney will submit his decision to Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, in advance of a final decision as to whether or not to indict the prime minister and, if so, on which charges.  In response, the Prime Minister’s office said;“This isn’t surprising. Those conclusions were established and leaked even before Prime Minister Netanyahu was first questioned. What is surprising is that for some reason no investigation is being held into the dozens of ministers and MKs, first and foremost Yair Lapid, who met secretly with Noni Mozes dozens of times, for having taken action to close Israel Hayom and who received in return pampering coverage in Yediot Ahronot and Ynet.”

All the newspapers continue to report political tension in the coalition.  Israel Hayom notes, “the 61-member coalition is going through a tense and problematic time. After the uproar on Monday over the loyalty in culture bill, which was not put to a vote because of Kulanu, and after the recriminations that have flown among the various members of the coalition, a senior member admitted yesterday, “the sense is that the business is unravelling.”  The paper also reports, that yesterday the Likud continued to promote the bill known as the ‘Gidon Saar’ bill. It was amended to say that the “party leader” will be considered the person first on the party’s list. If this person quits or dies, whomever the party elects to head it, within ten days, will be considered the party leader. According to Maariv, “Kulanu Chairman Moshe Kahlon is not opposed to a bill that stipulates that the task of forming the coalition government should be given only to a party leader. That said, sources in the coalition said last night that they believed that Kahlon would allow the Kulanu faction members to vote their conscience on this bill, as he did in the loyalty in culture bill, since it was not cited specifically in the coalition agreements. Some members of Kulanu are displeased with the efforts to curtail the president’s purview and are expected to vote against the amendment.”

Maariv reports that ahead of the deadline on the military conscription bill the state intends to ask the High Court of Justice for yet another four month extension. However, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit said at the cabinet meeting that it would be impossible to ask the court for a further extension.

Israel Hayom reports that Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely briefed 50 ambassadors and diplomats, including from the UK, about UNRWA.  She said Israel’s policy is that UNRWA needs to be closed. It is the problem, not the solution.

“For years we have seen how instead of resettling the original refugees, UNRWA has acted to increase the number of refugees by automatically passing on refugee status from generation to generation. That is without parallel in the world and it only perpetuates the conflict.”  Hotovely presented for the first time to the ambassadors and diplomats an alternative model, “the Jordanian model, in which Jordan de facto naturalized the refugees, is the correct model for Syria and Lebanon as well. Furthermore, a distinction needs to be drawn between East Jerusalem, which is under Israeli control, and Palestinian Authority territory. There is no justification for maintaining two parallel education systems for those people. The responsibility for education in Area A resides with the Palestinian Authority, and shouldn’t reside with UNRWA. Alternatively, the situation in Gaza is complex, and UN agencies need to be found, such as the UNDP, that serve as an alternative channel for providing humanitarian aid. There is no justification for maintaining millions of imaginary refugees—fake refugees.”

Maariv includes a report citing pro Hezbollah Al-Mayadeen that Hamas has agreed to implement the 2017 Palestinian reconciliation agreement, on the condition that the sanctions against Hamas be lifted and that its employees receive salaries. Hamas has asked that a national unity government be formed within 45 days, and that elections be held in no less than six months.

Kan radio news reports an Israeli car was stoned last night in the West Bank near Ofra in the Binyamin region. The driver, aged 35, sustained light injuries and continued to drive to the settlement. He was treated by MDA medics. A 30 year-old woman passenger suffered from shock and was also treated.