The Guardian and The Independent report on global leaders focusing efforts on dissuading Israel and Hezbollah from escalating to war. The Telegraph and ITV News report on Israel exploring ‘retaliatory strikes’. Sky News reports that Hezbollah denies responsibility for the attack. BBC News reports on northern communities making preparations in fear of war, including students at the University of Haifa being sent home. BBC News updates a piece first published in November outlining who Hezbollah are. BBC News also reports from the funerals of many of the children killed in the attack. The Telegraph reports on many of the mourners heckling Israeli Ministers as they attended. Anshel Pfeffer writes on why this is a turning point in the Israel-Hezbollah conflict for The Times. 

Phil Rosenberg, President of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, writes for The Times arguing that Labour worked hard to regain the trust of the Jewish community before the election but its actions on Israel is causing wide discontent in the community.

The Times publishes a leading article arguing that PM Keir Starmer should not be seen to be “endorsing the ICC’s pursuit of the Israeli Prime Minister”.

The Telegraph reports that Hamas is filming the torture of Israeli hostages in an attempt to force Israel to ease conditions for Palestinian prisoners. In one video, members of the terrorist group directly address Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s national security minister who controls prison policy.

The Telegraph reports on Israeli and Palestinian Olympic competitors: “Palestinian swimmer Yazan al-Bawwab, who describes bringing politics into sport as ‘a big mistake’, is preaching a message of peace”.

The Guardian and Sky News also report that French police have opened an investigation into death threats received by three Israeli athletes at the Paris Olympic Games, as well as possible antisemitic hate crimes during a football match, the Paris prosecutors office said.

The Guardian publishes a piece reporting on a lawyer who represented Palestine at a recent ICJ case against Israel arguing that the UK should stop arming Israel.

The Guardian also publishes a column by Nesrine Malik who says that the war in Gaza “is not only tolerated as an unfortunate necessity, but is seen as something for which unquestionable support will continue without limits, without red lines and without tactical discretion”.

The Guardian reports on Airwars, an organisation which has named nearly 3,000 Palestinians allegedly killed in Gaza in almost 350 separate incidents during the first 17 days of the war.

Reuters reports that President Tayyip Erdogan said on Sunday that Turkey might enter Israel as it had done in the past in Libya and Nagorno-Karabakh, though he did not spell out what sort of intervention he was suggesting.

BBC News, The Guardian and Sky News report that the Hamas-run Palestinian health ministry has said an Israeli airstrike has hit a school in central Gaza, killing at least 30 people, including seven children.

Israel Hayom and Ynet both feature coverage of the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, suggesting taking military action against Israel. At a recent meeting of the Justice and Development Party, President Erdogan said “We must be very strong so that Israel cannot carry out these actions (attacks) against Palestine. Just as we entered Karabakh, just as we entered Libya, we might do the same to them. There is nothing we cannot do. We just need to be strong”. Commenting, Israeli Foreign Minister, Israel Katz said: “Erdogan is following in the footsteps of Saddam Hussein by threatening to attack Israel. He should remember how that turned out and how it ended”.

Writing for Yediot Ahronot, Nissim Douek brands conceptions of the IDF’s omnipotence as a “disastrous idea”. He argues that “The nation that was established and immediately defeated seven foreign armies, reclaimed its holy sites in six days, boasts the strongest army in the Middle East and, according to foreign reports, nuclear power, is unable to protect its citizens, hostages and soldiers on any front”, and that “now, before a war in Lebanon that will bring another disaster to the region, it is worth scheduling an appointment at a rehab clinic, and rid ourselves of the notion of unlimited power”.

Also in Yediot Ahronot, Yoav Zitun reports that “forces operating in Khan Younis eliminated several terrorists in the Gazan city”, citing a statement from the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit: “Over the past day, IDF troops eliminated dozens of terrorists, including terrorists who fired toward the troops, and dismantled terrorist infrastructure. The IAF struck 35 terror targets in the Gaza Strip, including armed terrorist cells, terrorist infrastructure, and buildings rigged with explosives.”

Reporting on hostage release and ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas, Haaretz carries pieces from both Jonathan Lis, and Bar Peleg and Amir Tibon. Lis describes how “the Israeli government is exploring various ideas for preventing armed combatants from moving to the north of the Gaza Strip from the south, in an attempt to prevent hostage negotiations from falling apart while also satisfying the prime minister’s insistence on incorporating such a provision”, while Peleg and Tibon confirm that a potential deal “is expected to include non-Israeli captives, mostly agricultural workers from Thailand, Nepal and Tanzania”.

Also writing in Haaretz, Tom Dine argues that Vice President Kamala Harris would be an “honest broker between Israel and the Palestinians… with her explicit intention to move past a binary conversation”. Concluding, he writes “Watching her boss being mistreated by Netanyahu in recent months will likely only sharpen her resolve not to tolerate his foolishness should he still be in power during what will hopefully be her watch in the White House. Harris will be the president the region needs for the next stage in Israeli and Palestinian history, one not of continued blood-soaked revenge and extreme suffering, but of a brick-by-brick building a peaceful path forward for both peoples”.

Israel Hayom reports on the death of Sergeant Yonatan Aharon Greenblatt who was wounded by an anti-tank missile in the Gaza Strip on 20^th July. He was from Beit Shemesh, served with the Givati Brigade’s Shaked Battalion, and was 21 when he died.