The Independent and Reuters reports that nine people have died after an earthquake hit eastern Turkey, close to the Iranian border, as the Turkish health ministry said three of those killed were children and 37 people were injured, with nine in a critical condition.

BBC News, The Guardian, Reuters and the Associated Press report that the Israeli military says it has launched air strikes against a Palestinian militant group in Gaza and Syria in response to rocket fire, as Israel’s military claimed it had struck Islamic Jihad targets in southern Damascus and the Gaza Strip on Sunday.

The Guardian reports that Israeli forces shot dead a Palestinian suspected of placing a bomb near the Gaza border, before extracting his body with a bulldozer, the Israeli army has said.

The Associated Press reports that with Benjamin Netanyahu eager to court the votes of the country’s influential West Bank settlers, President Trump’s Middle East plan seemed to be the key to ramping up their support ahead of critical elections next week.

The Times, The Independent and The Telegraph report that Iran’s hardliners have claimed victory in a heavily engineered election that drew the lowest voter turnout since the Islamic Revolution of 1979. The Associated Press reports that Iran’s interior ministry said Sunday that voter turnout in last week’s parliamentary elections was 42.57 per cent, the lowest in decades, in a sign of widespread dissatisfaction with Iran’s clerical rulers and the state of the economy amid intense pressure from the United States.

The Guardian, and the Associated Press report that Turkey and Pakistan have both closed their borders with Iran, with Turkey also halting incoming flights, in an effort to stop the potential spread of coronavirus after Iran reported 43 cases of the disease.

Reuters reports that France is ready to support Lebanon financially – bilaterally or multilaterally – its finance minister said on Sunday, warning against mixing economic recovery in the small Mediterranean state with US-led efforts to counter Iran in the region.

The Guardian, editorial insists the victory of hardliners in the parliamentary contest was engineered, although Donald Trump’s maximum pressure campaign has destroyed the Iranian public’s faith in the promises of moderates.

In The Independent, Kim Sengupta writes that Iran’s parliamentary elections were marked by low turnout and popular anger, asserting that Friday’s vote was ‘more sombre and apprehensive’ than the country’s last elections.

In the Associated Press, Aron Heller argues the leader of Yisrael Beiteinu, Avigdor Lieberman, stills holds keys to any future government as neither Netanyahu nor Gantz will be able to form a coalition without Lieberman.

All the Israeli media report government measures to contain the coronavirus, which has infected two Israelis who recently returned from the Diamond Princess cruise ship. Nearly 200 Israeli students and teachers from three different schools were quarantined over the weekend after possibly coming into contact with a South Korean tour group that recently travelled through Israel and the Palestinian Authority. 28 out of the 39 South Korean tourists tested positive for the virus upon their return to South Korea. An estimated 1,000 tourists from South Korea still in Israel will fly back home today, with many in quarantine at Ben Gurion Airport. The Israeli Health Ministry has barred entry to non-residents and non-citizens who travelled to South Korea over the past two weeks, with expectations that the ban would be expanded to Japan, Australia, and possibly Italy. The Tel Aviv marathon also banned 3,000 non-Israelis from competing in the race later this week.

Channel 12 and Kan Television news published two polls yesterday indicating that for the first time since early last year the Likud is ahead of Blue and White. Kan predicted Likud would win 35 seats compared to 34 for Blue and White, while Channel 12 predicted 34 for the Likud and 33 for Blue and White. While the results are within the margin of error, Blue and White had consistently maintained a 2 to 3 seat lead over Likud, pointing to a potential shift one week before election day. However, despite pulling ahead, it is unlikely that Likud and its right-wing partners will win enough seats to form a 61-seat governing coalition.

Avigdor Lieberman, head of Yisrael Beitenu, said in an interview on Channel 12 news on Saturday night that Prime Minister Netanyahu’s lawyers held discussions with the State Prosecutor’s Office about a plea bargain to reduce the corruption charges against Netanyahu in return for his retirement from political life. According to Lieberman, for Netanyahu “the 2 March election isn’t a race to be prime minister, but an attempt to improve his standing in his negotiations with the State Prosecutor’s Office. Netanyahu is going to cut a plea bargain agreement between March 2-17.” Netanyahu’s trial for bribery, fraud, and breach of trust is due to start on 17 March. Netanyahu and other senior Likud party officials vehemently rejected Lieberman’s comments and said no such discussions had taken place nor would they.