Several UK dailies report this morning on the ongoing violence in Syria, focusing on an attack by government warplanes on the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in south Damascus. According to reports in the Times, Telegraph, Independent i and the online editions of the Guardian and Financial Times, at least eight people were killed when air strikes hit a mosque in the camp. Opposition fighters opposing the rule of President Assad recently made advances into Yarmouk, where the Financial Times online suggests that an anti-Assad Palestinian militia has been active since October. Meanwhile, the Independent reports that an Islamist faction of the opposition forces has captured an infantry base in the northern city of Aleppo.

The Independent and its sister publication Independent i also report on comments made by an aide to Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas, who described The Quartet as “useless.” The Quartet, a joint body representing the United Nations, United States, European Union and Russia, is charged with helping mediate peace negotiations in the region. The aide to Abbas stressed that Tony Blair, the Quartet’s representative in the region is not personally to blame for the body’s shortcomings.

The Independent i also covers a call by PA Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad to boycott Israeli goods in response to the government of Israel’s recent decision to withhold a monthly tranche of roughly $100million in taxes collected on behalf of the PA. Israel’s government intends to direct the money to repay debts owed by the PA to Israeli companies including the Israel Electricity Company which supplies electricity to much of the PA-controlled West Bank.

The online editions of the Guardian, Times and Financial Times report on the aftermath of the first stage of voting in Egypt’s referendum on the country’s draft constitution. Islamists, supporting President Mursi have claimed a 56 per cent vote in favour of the document in Saturday’s poll, which included voting in Cairo and Alexandria, considered opposition strongholds. However, the opposition National Salvation Front has claimed that 66 per cent voted against the draft constitution and has complained of intimidation at the polls and irregularities in the voting.

Along with coverage of the massacre in Connecticut, the Israeli media is dominated by the criminal case being brought against Avigdor Lieberman, who formally submitted his resignation as foreign minister yesterday, after Thursday’s announcement that he will face charges of bribery and breach of trust. Israel Hayom and Makor Rishon both focus on Lieberman’s hope that his resignation will signal only a “temporary parting” from government. Haaretz and Maariv report that a plea bargain may be in the offing, with Lieberman’s legal team apparently set to meet the State Attorney’s Office this morning, to discuss a deal which would see Lieberman admit crimes which do not constitute ‘moral turpitude’.

Meanwhile, Israel Radio News reports this morning that an Arabic-speaking man snatched a weapon from a security guard in the town of Bnei Brak, fired a number of shots which injured the guard and fled the scene after the security guard returned fire. Israel Radio News also covers the nurses’ strike which is entering its fifteenth day today after another attempt to settle the dispute in the National Labour Court ended without a resolution.