The Independent i reports that an autopsy is scheduled to be carried out on the body of a young Palestinian man who was killed during violent clashes with Israeli security forces near Ramallah last month. The incident occurred during a demonstration to mark what many Palestinians call Naqba (“catastrophe”) Day, the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. Palestinians claim that the man was killed by live fire, while the Israeli army contends that only rubber bullets were used.

The Times online says Iran has sent 150 elite troops into neighbouring Iraq to help the Shia-dominated Iraqi government combat a major offensive by the Sunni Islamist group ISIS, which this week took control of the major city of Mosul. The article says that the move by Tehran is “a further escalation of Iran’s involvement in the conflicts rupturing the Middle East,” which it specifies includes the presence of at least 1,500 Revolutionary Guards supporting the Assad regime in Syria. In the Telegraph, Richard Spencer says that the capture of Mosul by ISIS and the subsequent Western reluctance to take any action is indicative of a Western retreat from deep involvement in the region.

In Egypt, the online editions of the Guardian and Financial Times both report that a court yesterday sentenced Alaa Abdel Fattah, a prominent secular activist who became a symbol of the 2011 uprising, to 15 years imprisonment for organising a demonstration. The Financial Times says the court ruling comes in the context of a pledge by new President al-Sisi to restore the “authority of the state” which some Egyptians view as an erosion of freedoms.

In the Israeli media, the aftermath of this week’s presidential election continues to attract attention. President-elect Reuven Rivlin met for two hours yesterday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to Maariv, Israel Hayom and Makor Rishon, both agreed to put their past differences aside and to work together in the future. The antipathy between Netanyahu and Rivlin was one of the prominent features of the presidential campaign.

Meanwhile, in Maariv, Yuval Bagno suggests that one of the repercussions of the presidential vote is that Tzipi Livni is coming under increasing pressure to remove her Hatnuah Party from the coalition and to ally with the Labour Party. Bagno says that Labour is now a genuine alternative to Likud and that elements within her own party are encouraging Livni to join forces with Labour leader Isaac Herzog.

Israel Radio news says that Israel’s Air Force, in coordination with the Shin Bet security agency yesterday evening carried out a precision strike against a top Salafi terrorist in the Gaza Strip. The strike came after a rocket was fired from Gaza into southern Israel during the day. Prime Minister Netanyahu said that in light of the recent Palestinian unity deal, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas is responsible for the violence.

Haaretz reports that the autopsy carried out on a Palestinian killed during violent ‘Naqba Day’ clashes has shown that he was struck by live gunfire, strengthening Palestinian claims that he was killed by IDF forces.