The Financial Times, Guardian, Times, Telegraph and Independent all report that Israel’s government yesterday approved plans to construct 2,500 new homes in the West Bank. Reports suggest that the announcement, made with the approval of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman, was timed to take advantage of President Donald Trump’s first days in office. The Times and the Guardian both note that most of the new homes will be built within existing major settlement blocs, which Israel envisages remaining under its sovereignty in any future peace deal.

Writing about the timing of the announcement in the Times, Richard Spencer explains that Netanyahu’s “threat at home is from the right” and so announcing further West Bank construction now is a question of “fending off opposition… while he can” in the early days of Trump’s administration.

The Daily Express quotes BICOM’s CEO James Sorene, expressing concern over a sum of around £177m in aid given by the United States to the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the final hours of Barack Obama’s tenure in office. He urges Washington to “monitor where the money is spent,” given the PA’s past record of appropriating international funds for terrorists and their families, as acknowledged by the UK government.

An editorial in the Daily Express criticises the allocation, saying that Obama was wrong to have given money “to a place which is awash with terrorists hell-bent on destroying the state of Israel,” which it notes is “the only functioning democracy in the Middle East”. The editorial concludes that Israel’s “people deserve more respect”. Obama’s £177m allocation to the PA is also covered by the i and Daily Star.

The Independent includes a feature on the Israeli authorities’ use of administrative detention, under which security and terror suspects can be held without charge. The article explains that “Israel says the policy is a key tool in preventing attacks on civilians, but rights activists say it violates due process”.

The Times, Guardian and the online edition of the Telegraph report that Syria peace talks in Kazakhstan between government and rebel representatives ended yesterday. An agreement was reached which will see Russia, Turkey and Iran become the guarantors of December’s ceasefire. The Times calls it a “victory for Iran” after initial rebel objections to Tehran’s prominent role.

In the Israeli media, the top story in Israel Hayom, which is also covered prominently in Yediot Ahronot, Maariv and Haaretz is a clash of words over the security cabinet’s performance during Operation Protective Edge in 2014. Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett criticised the political leadership at a security conference yesterday. He was directly challenged by Moshe Ya’alon, the defence minister at the time, whilst Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended his record at a separate forum. The exchange comes ahead of the expected publication of a State Comptroller report into the issue, which is thought to criticise Netanyahu and Ya’alon for failing to adequately inform the security cabinet over Hamas’s tunnel threat.

Writing in Maariv, Yossi Melman defends Netanyahu and Ya’alon. He asks: “Could it be that Netanyahu and Yaalon showed responsibility and prudence? They knew and realised… that swift action – ‘‎be galloping horses,’ ‎as Bennett urged them to be – ‎would result in a large number of casualties that Israeli society would be hard put to cope with.” He also asks what would have happened had Israel re-conquered Gaza: “A renewal of the Israeli occupation of the Gaza Strip?”

The top story in Maariv is news that Ya’alon was questioned as a key witness in a new case against Netanyahu. Already facing a criminal investigation over dealings with prominent businessmen, police are now thought to be investigating a submarine deal with Germany, which it is alleged was influence by the business interests of Netanyahu’s lawyer.

The main item in Haaretz is yesterday’s announcement of plans to build 2,500 homes in the West Bank. The story is also covered prominently in Israel Hayom.