BBC News reports that a senior Hamas administration official was among four people killed in an Israeli air strike at a school in Gaza City. Ehab Al-Ghussein was appointed to manage the affairs of the Hamas government in Gaza City and northern Gaza three months ago.

The Financial Times, The Guardian and The Telegraph report that Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday any deal to free the Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza must allow Israel to resume fighting afterwards and achieve all its war goals. Hamas is reportedly considering a deal without a permanent ceasefire.

Reuters reports Hezbollah said on Sunday it launched a drone attack on Mount Hermon in the Golan Heights where Israel has a key surveillance centre. It said this was its first such bombing since it began trading fire with Israel on Oct. 8, a day after its Palestinian ally Hamas attacked southern Israel, sparking the Gaza war. Hezbollah says it would halt operations only when the war ends.

Sky News reports that the chances of a newborn baby surviving in Gaza now are low. Mothers are so malnourished themselves that they cannot breastfeed, and so babies are dying because they cannot get the vital nutrition that newborns need.

The Times and The Daily Mail report that new UK Prime Minister Starmer said on Sunday that an independent state is the “undeniable right” of the Palestinian people, as he held his first call with the Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu. In a marked change in tone from the new government, Starmer told Netanyahu there was a “clear and urgent” need for a ceasefire in Gaza as well as an immediate increase in the volume of humanitarian aid reaching civilians.

The Guardian reports that the new Labour government is expected to drop a bid to delay the international criminal court (ICC) reaching a decision on whether to issue an arrest warrant for Benjamin Netanyahu over alleged war crimes in Gaza.

The Guardian reports from Jordan, interviewing Palestinian families about their experience of the war – including concerns for their families in Gaza.

The Times also publishes a piece looking comprehensively at the impact the discussion over conscripting ultra-Orthodox communities in Israel is having and how it could potentially bring Netanyahu’s government to an end.

The Guardian reports on Haaretz publishing a report warning that the IDF employed a directive to use force to prevent the kidnapping of soldiers even at the expense of hostages’ lives, according to a report.

BBC News also reports that vandals tore down posters of Israeli hostages hung on the wall outside the Capitol Hill office of a Democratic politician on 4 July, his office said on Friday. Congressman Brad Schneider called the damage “a vile act of hate”. The posters included photos of more than 100 people, eight of them Americans, taken as hostages by Hamas during the 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel.

Yediot Ahronot reports on the IDF re-entering Gaza City as part of a counter-terror operation intended to degrade and destroy Hamas and PIJ’s infrastructure, including command and control centres concealed in an UNRWA facility which has been rebuilt since December. According to the IDF, civilians were warned ahead of the start of the operation to evacuate, and were  given a defined route that would be opened for them to move to safety.

Haaretz and Ynet both report on conflict in the north, with Israel and Hezbollah exchanging fire across the Lebanese border. A 31-year-old American citizen was seriously wounded in an anti-tank guided missile attack in Zarit, while the Israeli Air Force responded by bombing the structure in Ayta ash Shab where the missiles were fired from. A Hezbollah rocket barrage on Sunday afternoon resulted in a direct hit at Kiryat Shmona’s football stadium. While not in use at the time, it was the fifth strike on the team’s training complex since October.

Ynet carries a feature on the Jordanian Armed Forces analysing its history and ever-closer security cooperation with Israel, despite the challenges of Operation Swords of Iron. Lior Ben Ari references historic examples of where Israeli-Jordanian ties have remained intact despite the challenges of domestic opposition to normalisation and terrorist attacks, closing with an account of how Amman navigated Iran’s missile and drone attack against Israel in April 2024.

In Haaretz, Amos Harel argues that while Israel’s defence chiefs see a chance for a deal with Hamas which could lead to a ceasefire and the release of hostages, they fear Prime Minister Netanyahu “will derail it for political reason” and that “in the choice between the release of hostages and his political survival, it’s clear how the prime minister intends to choose”. Turning to Lebanon, Harel closes with “the road to persuade Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah to hold his fire leads through Gaza and a hostage deal”.

Also in Haaretz, Dalia Scheindlin questions the extent to which Israels desire a “full-scale war with Hezbollah”. While acknowledging the seeming inevitability of conflict escalating in the north, she also references the diplomatic attempts to broker a solution, albeit unsuccessfully. She closes with “the bigger war is still not inevitable, and the Israeli public seems aware of both the complexities, and dangers, of all paths. But no one can convince Israelis the fear is merely hypothetical – and it’s a fear their leaders could easily heed, or exploit”.

Writing for Israel Hayom, Miri Weissman profiles Iran’s newly elected President, Masoud Pezeshkian. Noting the very low turnout which sat at just 49.8 percent, Weissman describes Pezeshkian’s reformist and relatively liberal political leanings as well as the significant challenges he will inherit on taking office.

Israel Hayom also carries a feature on the “IDF’s covert technological revolution amid Gaza war” where it describes the innovative work of engineering reservists in filling operational gaps highlighted by Operation Swords of Iron. While praising the reservists’ work, this piece also acknowledges systemic challenges within the IDF which hampered their efforts.

A poll conducted by Channel 13 over the weekend shows that if elections were held today, the centrist National Unity party led by Benny Gantz would win 25 seats, while Likud, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, would secure 21 seats, unchanged from the previous poll. The total number of seats for the current opposition parties remains unchanged from the poll conducted two weeks ago, with 67 seats expected for the opposition compared to 53 seats for the current coalition. According to the poll, the third-largest party is Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid, which gained one seat compared to the previous poll, reaching 13 seats. Following are Yisrael Beiteinu with 12 seats, also gaining one seat, Itamar Ben-Gvir’s far-right Otzma Yehudit remaining steady with 10 seats, and Shas gaining one seat to reach 10 seats as well. The Democrats, a left-wing merger of Labor and Meretz, led by Yair Golan lost one seat, dropping to 9 seats. United Torah Judaism secured 8 seats, while Religious Zionism and Hadash-Ta’al each lost one seat, dropping to 4 seats. Ra’am also remains steady with 4 seats, as in the previous poll. Gideon Sa’ar’s National Right and Balad parties do not pass the electoral threshold