The Guardian online reports a knife attack in Jerusalem yesterday, which moderately wounded two Israeli women in their eighties. The victims were part of a group of five people walking in a wooded area near a popular promenade, who were approached and then attacked by two masked men. The attackers fled the scene and a manhunt has been launched. Knife attacks have been a regular occurrence during the current wave of violence, which has killed at least 31 Israelis since October.

The Telegraph online says that at least 700 Iranian troops and fighters have been killed in combat in Syria during the last three years. Although Iran still denies that it has ‘boots on the ground’ in Syria and only ‘military advisers’, Iranian media reports and other studies indicate that at least 700 Revolutionary Guards, regular troops and militia fighters have been killed whilst supporting President Assad’s forces.

In the Israeli media, the focus is squarely on Memorial Day for Israel’s fallen soldiers and victims of terror. The commemoration began yesterday evening with a one-minute siren, followed by a state memorial ceremony at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, attended by President Reuven Rivlin and other dignitaries. A two-minute siren will be sounded at 11am (Israel time), which will signal the start of memorial ceremonies at military cemeteries across the country. It is the top item in all dailies, with Yediot Ahronot’s front-page headline declaring ‘We are here thanks to them.’ Meanwhile, Israel Hayom’s main headline looks ahead to Independence Day, which will begin this evening, declaring ‘From sorrow to joy.’

Another major item, reported prominently in Yediot Ahronot, Maariv, Haaretz and Israel Hayom, is growing speculation that Zionist Union leader Isaac Herzog has reached an agreement in principle with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to join the government. According to Yediot Ahronot, Herzog would become foreign minister and his party would receive eight or nine ministerial portfolios in total. However, it is thought that many within Herzog’s own party oppose such a move. Labour Party MKs Merav Michaeli, Erel Margalit, Mickey Rosenthal, Michal Biran and Stav Shaffir are all quoted opposing joining Netanyahu’s government, while Tzipi Livni has apparently indicated that her Hatnuah faction would not endorse it. Writing in Yediot Ahronot, Sima Kadmon says that Herzog’s plan is merely a bid to save himself from becoming irrelevant.

Meanwhile, Israel Radio news this morning reports that an IDF officer was seriously injured last night, when pipe bombs exploded near the Palestinian village of Hizma, just north of Jerusalem. An IDF patrol spotted suspicious objects on the roadside and exited their vehicle to examine them. The device, comprising four pipe bombs was then detonated, wounding the commander of the patrol in the face and elsewhere. He was evacuated to a Jerusalem hospital, while Israeli forces launched a search in the area for the perpetrators, closing a road from Jerusalem running northwards into the West Bank.