The Times reports that Israel’s former President Moshe Katsav was released from prison yesterday, having served five years of a seven-year sentence for rape and other sexual offences during his time in public office. State prosecutors decided not to appeal a parole board decision for early release.

The Times, Guardian, Daily Mail, i and Evening Standard all report that an Israeli man in his sixties, Rami Elyakim, was seriously wounded and that his wife Dalia died in this week’s truck attack at a Christmas fair in Berlin.

The Guardian online reports responses to US President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to relocate the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Senior Palestinian negotiation Saeb Erekat said that the move would lead to “chaos, lawlessness and extremism” in the region. Israel’s Ambassador to Washington, Ron Dermer described it as “a great step forward to peace”.

The Independent covers comments by Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said that Israel is prepared to take in wounded Syrians, particularly from Aleppo, to receive medical treatment in Israeli hospitals. The article also quotes the Director of Ziv Medical Centre in the northern Israeli city of Safed, who said that more than 2,500 Syrians have already been treated there since February 2013.

The Independent and the Guardian online report that the evacuation of the remaining civilians in Aleppo has restarted after those waiting to leave were stranded in freezing temperatures for 24 hours, following disagreement between government and rebel forces. The Guardian online says that four babies died during the wait. The Telegraph online reports that the United Nations (UN) Security Council has voted to create an investigative body which will explore war crimes in Syria.

The i includes a feature on efforts in Bethlehem to promote locally-made Palestinian souvenirs and products to the 120,000 tourists who are expected to visit the Holy Land at this time of year.

The Times, Daily Mail, Daily Express and Sun all cover the development of a ‘breathalyser’ by Israeli scientists, which they say can detect 17 different diseases via their “breath print,” including Parkinson’s disease and ovarian cancer with 86 per cent accuracy.

In the Israeli media, the ongoing uncertainty over the court-ordered evacuation of the West Bank outpost of Amona, is the top story in Yediot Ahronot and Israel Hayom. Israel Radio too reports that the High Court has ordered that Amona residents declare unequivocally this morning that they agree to leave their homes peacefully before the court rules on a government request to postpone the evacuation for 45 days.

Yediot Ahronot continues its front page story from yesterday, which claimed that Prime Minister Netanyahu had compared the prospective eviction of Amona, with his family being forced to leave the Prime Minister’s residence following election defeat to Ehud Barak, to be housed overnight at a hotel. This morning’s piece notes that nobody, including Netanyahu or his office, has denied that the comments were made, merely that they were taken out of context.

The top story in Maariv is on Zionist Union MK Erel Margalit’s demand that the attorney general order a formal investigation into the so-called ‘submarine affair’ after he produced evidence that the family of the Lebanese Defence Minister allegedly owns a significant share of the German shipyard that was commissioned to build the Saar 6 missile boats for the Israel Navy. The ‘submarine affair’ came to light over accusations that a deal to purchase new submarines was fuelled by the business interests of Netanyahu’s lawyer.

Yediot Ahronot and Israel Hayom prominently report the release of former President Moshe Katsav from prison.

Israel Radio news reports that the Ministerial Committee for Legislation will today debate a bill which would allow the courts to order internet companies such as Facebook or Google to remove content containing incitement. Content could be removed it if constitutes a criminal offence or if there is a real possibility that it endangers the security of an individual, the public or the state.