The Telegraph, Independent i and the online editions of the Guardian, Independent and Financial Times all cover the appointment by Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas of Rami Hamdallah as the new PA Prime Minister. Hamdallah, an academic with qualifications from the UK, is a political independent but is believed to be close to Abbas’ Fatah faction. Hamdallah is set to succeed Salam Fayyad, a popular figure with Western governments who resigned following extensive disagreements with Abbas. Hamdallah has not previously served in government and the Guardian online notes that Hamas has already rejected Hamdallah’s appointment as a violation of unity guidelines agreed with Fatah several weeks ago.

The Times reports on a strong statement issued at yesterday’s cabinet meeting by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who condemned both discrimination against Israel’s Arab citizens and violence directed against Palestinians in the West Bank. Netanyahu’s comments come after Israeli media recently highlighted the separate admission of Jewish and Arab school groups into a popular water park and a series of so-called “price tag” attacks in the West Bank, acts of vandalism carried out against Palestinian property by supporters of Jewish settlements. Netanyahu said that he rejects “with contempt these acts of racism.”

The Financial Times, Guardian, Independent, Daily Mail and Independent i all report on the most serious clashes yet between Hezbollah and Syrian opposition groups to take place in Lebanon. Hezbollah reportedly ambushed Syrian rebels in a remote border area after the Hezbollah stronghold of Baalbeck had been shelled. Meanwhile, in Syria itself, the bitter fight for the town of Qusair continues between President Assad’s forces led by Hezbollah and opposition groups. Both the Guardian and Telegraph online report that the Lebanese government has lodged a complaint with the United Nations after Israeli warplanes flew over southern Lebanon.  The Times online and Telegraph online say that the Assad regime will only allow aid to reach injured civilians trapped in the town once the fighting is over.

Meanwhile, the Independent reports on what it says is a feeling of growing tension in Israel, especially in the north of the country, as the violence in Syria, which includes the extensive active involvement of Hezbollah threatens to spill over into conflict with Israel.

The online editions of the Guardian and the Times cover a ruling by Egypt’s supreme constitutional court that the country’s upper house of parliament and the assembly that drafted a controversial constitution was elected illegally. Although the legislative implications of the ruling remain unclear, it exacerbates tension between the judiciary, the authority of President Mohammed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood faction. Many judicial figures believe that Morsi is attempting to strengthen his own power rather than usher in a meaningful democracy into Egypt.

In the Israeli media this morning, the popular protests in Turkey feature heavily on the front pages. It is the main headline in both Yediot Ahronot and Israel Hayom, while Maariv leads with the headline “Erdogan: I’m not a dictator.” However, most commentators, including Nadav Eyal in Maariv argue that the demonstrations are unlikely to evolve into the kind of revolutions that took place during the Arab Spring.

Meanwhile, the headline in Makor Rishon is devoted to Western sources which claim that Israel’s leadership is in favour of the fall of President Assad in Syria, despite remaining wary over the alternative. Haaretz focuses its’ front page on the appointment of Rami Hamdallah as the new Palestinian Authority Prime Minister. Maariv also includes a two-page story claiming that Israel may have reached agreement with unnamed African countries to house an estimated 38,000 Eritreans and 12,000 Sudanese nationals who have illegally crossed the border with Egypt to take refuge in Israel over the past few years. Ben-Dror Yemini analyses the possibility, arguing that the rights of African migrants must be balanced with the rights of residents whose neighbourhoods have changed unrecognisably following the influx of Africans.