Syria continues to be covered prominently in this morning’s dailies. The Independent, Daily Mirror, Evening Standard, Independent i, Telegraph and the online edition of the Times report the first public comments made yesterday by Syria’s President Assad since Syrian military installations were hit by air strikes over the weekend, thought to have been carried out by Israel. Assad claimed that his forces are capable of “facing Israel’s ventures.” All reports also note claims by the Syrian based terrorist group Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, that Assad has given it the green light to fire at Israel. The Guardian includes an article by BICOM Senior Visiting Fellow, Mike Herzog, who argues that Israel does not wish to be drawn into the Syrian conflict and is primarily concerned about preventing the flow of arms to Hezbollah.

Meanwhile, the Telegraph and Independent i report that four United Nations peacekeepers in the Syrian section of the Golan Heights have been abducted by opposition groups. The Times includes an article which quotes Israeli sources refuting the claim that Syrian opposition groups have used sarin gas. Meanwhile, the Telegraph online reports that the internet in Syria was cut yesterday for the second time in six months, possibly in an attempt by the Assad regime to hamper opposition communications.

The Times, Financial Times, Evening Standard, Metro and the online editions of the Guardian and Independent report that the United States and Russia have agreed to convene an international conference on Syria possibly at the end of the month, with the aim of trying to find a peaceful solution to the Syrian conflict. The diplomatic development was announced in Moscow after talks between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who agreed to try to revive a plan to create a transitional government outlined in Geneva last June.

The Times and the Independent report that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed the country’s Housing Minister not to press ahead with government tenders for construction projects in the West Bank, effectively instituting a ‘settlement freeze.’ The Palestinian Authority has demanded the suspension of Israeli building in the West Bank as one of several conditions for returning to direct peace talks with Israel.

The Independent and the Times also report the latest theory surrounding the actions of Ben Zygier, Israel’s ‘Prisoner X’, presumed to be a Mossad agent, who killed himself in a high security Israeli prison in 2010. The Australian ABC network claims that Zygier’s actions scuppered a mission to recover the bodies of three Israeli servicemen who had been captured in Lebanon in 1982.

The Guardian claims that world-renowned physicist Professor Stephen Hawking has pulled out of a conference in Israel next month in protest at Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians. He had been scheduled to attend the President’s Conference, marking the ninetieth birthday of Shimon Peres.

In the Israeli media, Finance Minister Yair Lapid’s budget plan continues to make the headlines. Israel Hayom announces “Middle Class Will Pay” while Haaretz and Yediot Ahronot say that the budget will make it harder for Israelis to purchase property. Both Maariv and Makor Rishon speculate that Prime Minister Netanyahu will ease some of the measures being proposed by Lapid. Writing in Yediot Ahronot, Nahum Barnea asks “Where is the integrity?” criticising both Netanyahu and Lapid for deceiving the electorate at January’s election, which was largely fought over economic issues.

Meanwhile, Haaretz and Israel Radio news highlight the comments made by Syria’s President Assad, who claimed yesterday that the Syrian army is capable of confronting Israel in the wake of the weekend air strikes on military targets near Damascus. Israel Hayom and Makor Rishon cover the Australian reports which speculate over the activities of Israel’s ‘Prisoner X’ Ben Zygier.