BBC News, The Telegraph and Reuters report that the IDF says it is investigating an apparent drone attack that hit central Tel Aviv in the early hours of Friday. In a statement, it said an initial inquiry indicated the explosion had been caused by the falling of an “aerial target”, which was not intercepted because of human error. Israeli emergency services say the explosion left one person dead and several lightly injured. The Houthis have claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Guardian publishes an article on the makeup of religious recruitment to the IDF: “About 40 percent of those graduating from the army’s infantry officer schools now come from a national religious community that accounts for 12 to 14 percent of Jewish Israeli society and is politically more aligned with Israel’s right and far-right political parties and the settler movement.”

The Guardian also reports that Israel’s far-right national security minister, Ben-Gvir, has visited the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, recording a video saying he went to pray, in a provocative move as he seeks to disrupt ceasefire talks.

Zarah Sultana has published an article in The Guardian calling on Prime Minister Keir Starmer to stop arms sales to Israel and end Britain’s “complicity”.

The Guardian also reports that poliovirus has been found in sewage samples from Gaza “putting thousands of people living in crowded displaced persons’ camps at risk of contracting the highly infectious disease that can cause deformities and paralysis”.

The Financial Times reports on opposition parties in Israel, asking why Netanyahu remains when “polls show that 70 percent want the long-serving PM to quit immediately or when the war in Gaza is concluded.”

The Economist publishes a piece on the Israeli police, accusing it of being captured by the far-right: “Israel has long stood out as a raucous democracy in a region with precious little of it. But on a recent Saturday in Tel Aviv police officers demanded to see the placards of protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and for early elections. The police justified this breach of freedom of expression by claiming it was to ensure there was no ‘incitement’. In fact, it was a sign of how the police have been politicised in the 18 months they have been under the control of Itamar Ben-Gvir.”

The Telegraph reports that Bournemouth should “de-twin” from an Israeli city in a bid to protect its “reputation” amid the ongoing war in Gaza, a Green Party councillor has said. Joe Salmon put forward a motion for the seaside resort in Dorset to end its association with its sister Netanya in west central Israel, which has been twinned with Bournemouth since 1995.

The Telegraph reports that two new pro-Palestinian MPs have joined forces with more than a dozen Labour backbenchers to demand that Sir Keir Starmer bans arms exports to Israel. Shockat Adam and Ayoub Khan, who both ran on pro-Gaza tickets, have backed an attempt by the Labour Left to force the Prime Minister to take a tougher stance on the war in the Middle East with an amendment to the King’s Speech.

The Times reports on a new report by Human Rights Watch that details some of the ‘hundreds of crimes against humanity’ committed by Hamas on October 7th.

The Times also reports that the Israeli Knesset has again voted to reject Palestinian statehood, with many MKs claiming it would be seen as a “reward” for terrorism.

The Times reports that The Royal Academy of Arts has apologised “for any hurt and distress” after exhibiting students’ artwork that appears to liken Israel to Nazi Germany. One depicted a swastika above screaming Arab women, while a second showed a person holding a sign reading: “Jews say stop genocide on Palestinians.” The institution has confirmed that both pieces have been removed from display.

Reuters reports that Israel must be banned from any football-related activities for violating FIFA’s statutes amid the war in Gaza, according to an independent legal analysis by lawyers who specialise in international law and human rights. The Palestinian Football Association (PFA) had submitted a proposal to suspend Israel in May, with FIFA ordering an urgent legal evaluation while promising to address it at an extraordinary meeting of its council in July.

All Israeli broadcast media reports that a 50-year-old man was killed early this morning by shrapnel when a Houthi drone fired from Yemen exploded in Tel Aviv. Kan Radio News reports that eight people sustained light injuries, including some who suffered from shock and were taken to hospital. No air raid sirens were sounded and it is still unclear from where the drone came. In footage from security cameras that were shown on the internet, the buzz of the drone is very audible before it exploded.

Writing for Haaretz, Yaniv Kubovich reports on a statement from the Israeli Air Force confirming that while the drone was in fact identified, it was not intercepted due to “human error”.

Also in Haaretz, Jack Khoury references a Saudi news report (from Al Arabiya) which said that the Houthis “launched a ballistic missile and four drones toward Israel…[and that] U.S. forces intercepted the ballistic missile and three drones, while the fourth exploded in Tel Aviv in central Israel”.

In Ynet, Yoav Zitun refers to the incident as a “major security lapse”, reporting that “It appears that no IDF radar—whether on land, in the air, or at sea—detected the hostile drone as it approached, leaving residents unalerted to the imminent danger near one of Israel’s strategic locations, just yards from the US Embassy in Tel Aviv. This oversight represents a severe security lapse at a time when all aerial defense systems should have been on high alert”.

In Israel Hayom, Erez Linn reports on the strike as having taken place on the intersection of Ben Yehuda Street and Shalom Aleichem Street and that “the IDF is investigating how the aircraft penetrated all defense systems and why no alert was activated”.

In Haaretz, Adi Hashmonai also reports on a barrage of ten rockets which were fired into Israel from Lebanon and all landed in open areas. In an op-ed, Dahlia Scheindlin asks how popular Hamas is amongst Palestinians both inside and outside the Gaza Strip, referencing how “recent polls on support for Hamas vary, but the clear trend is a widening gap between Palestinians depending on where they live and what they’ve experienced”.

Yediot Ahronot and Israel Hayom both report on the Republican National Convention where President Trump called for the release of American hostages held in Gaza threatening severe consequences if they were not freed when he came into office in November. The parents of Omer Neutra, one of the American hostages held in Gaza, also spoke and confirmed that “Trump stands with the American hostages”.

In Ynet, Ron Ben Yishai describes the progression of ceasefire and hostage release negotiations between Israel and Hamas. He writes that they have become “negotiations over the day after” given Hamas’s reservations and concerns as the group is “demanding terms that will enable it not only to survive as a terrorist army in the Gaza Strip—defeated, but still existing—but to rebuild”. He also argues that Israel’s main interests are holding the territories it has captured which provide it with the most intelligence, maintain operational freedom of movement even after it has withdrawn from the Gaza Strip, and working with Egypt to prevent weapons being smuggled into the Gaza Strip, as well as the egress and ingress of Hamas personnel seeking to train in Iran