The online edition of the Guardian reports that Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman has said that forces loyal to Syria’s President Assad were responsible for deliberately targeting a civilian Israeli vehicle; the attack earlier this week killed a teenage boy and wounded two others. Lieberman added that he hoped Damascus “got the message” following Israeli air strikes on Syrian army positions in response.

The Metro reports that the 2,000 year-old caves at Beit Guvrin in central Israel, a unique archaeological site used as quarries, burial sites and storerooms has been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

Elsewhere in the region, the Times and the online editions of the Guardian and Financial Times report that Egypt’s new President, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, has refused to pardon the three Al Jazeera journalists sentenced earlier this week. The journalists were sentenced to between 7-10 years imprisonment over their reporting of the ousting of the Muslim Brotherhood last summer. The Financial Times online also says that al-Sisi announced he will donate half of his salary to the national budget in apparent preparation for introducing widespread austerity measures.

The Times reports that Iran says it expects to sign an agreement with Moscow before the end of August for Russia to build two new nuclear plants. The announcement comes amid attempts to broker a long-term deal between Iran and the P5+1 powers (US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany) over Tehran’s nuclear programme.

In the Daily Mail, Alex Brummer outlines what he views as the five greatest threats to the global economy. They include the possible collapse of nuclear talks between Iran and the P5+1, the advance of ISIS in Iraq and the pause in the peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

In the Israeli media, a major item is the appeal made by the mothers of the three Israeli teenagers who were kidnapped in the West Bank 12 days ago, who yesterday addressed the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva. It is the lead story in Israel Hayom and Yediot Ahronot. Speaking before the forum, Rachel Frenkel, mother of Naftali, said that she was suffering every mother’s nightmare and that the world could be doing more to help bring her son home.

As for the operation to locate the missing youngsters, Maariv and Haaretz focus on comments made by Defence Minister Moshe Ya’alon, who indicated that the search has almost run its course. Meanwhile, Makor Rishon highlights comments made by IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz, who said that there is increasing concern over the fate of the boys, but that the working assumption is that they are still alive. Writing in Maariv, Or Heller says that Gantz’s comments may be an attempt “to prepare Israeli public opinion for the fact that the chances that this story will end well, with the return of the teenagers to their families, are decreasing every hour, every day.”

Meanwhile, Makor Rishon and Israel Radio news prominently report that five rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip at southern Israel yesterday, prompting Israel’s Air Force to strike seven strategic targets in Gaza in response. No injuries were caused by the rocket fire into Israel and the Iron Dome anti-missile system was deployed successfully, intercepting two rockets. However, a Palestinian three-year-old girl was reportedly killed by a rocket fired from Gaza which failed to reach its target in Israel.