The Telegraph online reports that Israel’s Shin Bet security agency yesterday named two Hamas activists from the Hebron area as the prime suspects wanted in connection with the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers in the West Bank two weeks ago. A feature in the Guardian examines the ongoing Israeli military operation to locate the abducted youngsters. It suggests that the operation aims to destroy Hamas’s West Bank presence as much as it is designed to find the missing youths. It also examines the huge strain that the kidnapping has placed on the new Palestinian unity government, which is backed by the Fatah faction of Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas, who has condemned the abduction, and Hamas, which is thought by Israel to be responsible for it. In the Guardian online, an op-ed by Labour MK Hilik Bar argues that Israel should use Abbas’s condemnation of the kidnapping to forge a closer relationship with him in the pursuit of peace.

The Times and the online edition of the Telegraph report that the Iraqi army has begun a counter-offensive against the Sunni Jihadist ISIS group, which has made significant military gains in the country over the past two weeks. Both publications and the Independent, also cover Foreign Secretary William Hague’s visit to Iraq yesterday, where he appealed to Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to form a national unity government to ward off what he described as a “mortal threat” to Iraq. The Times also notes that a spokesman for Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman described the prospect of Kurdish independence as a “foregone conclusion.”

Meanwhile, the online editions of the Guardian and Financial Times say that al-Maliki yesterday confirmed and praised a Syrian air raid on ISIS positions in Iraq near the border with Syria.

The Financial Times also reports that Jordan has restricted travel for men of military age, born between 1976 and 1996, in what is viewed as a measure to guard against the danger of Islamist fighters entering the country. ISIS this week captured a position on the Iraq-Jordan border.

The Times includes an obituary of Ron Pundak, one of the Israeli architects of the Oslo Peace Accords during the 1990s, who died in April aged 59.

In the Israeli media, the top story is the naming yesterday of the two prime suspects wanted for the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers. Both are Hamas activists from the Hebron area who have been not been heard from since several hours before the abduction. It is the main item in Yediot Ahronot, Maariv, Haaretz and Israel Hayom which leads with the headline “Manhunt.” Commenting in Yediot Ahronot, Alex Fishman suggests that yesterday’s announcement was an attempt by Israel’s political leadership to show that progress in the operation to locate the boys is being made. Meanwhile, both Yediot Ahronot and Israel Hayom also include separate pieces highlighting comment from parents of the kidnapped youngsters, expressing their hope that their sons will soon return home.

In other news, Maariv highlights that Israel’s President Shimon Peres was yesterday awarded the prestigious Congressional Gold Medal in a high profile ceremony in Washington. Peres spoke at the ceremony with optimism that peace would eventually be established in the Middle East.

Israel Radio news reports that security preparations are being made for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins tomorrow. The IDF is set to concentrate troops in sections of the West Bank in advance of next Friday, when thousands of Palestinians are expected to visit the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.