BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme, BBC News Online, the Times, the Telegraph, the FT, and the Guardian all report that Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri has returned to Beirut for the first time since announcing his resignation in Saudi Arabia two weeks ago.

The Independent and the Mail Online both report that the Lebanese army has been placed in a state of “full readiness” to deal with the “Israeli enemy” as tensions in the region mount.

The Guardian reports that several high-profile artists including Brian Eno, Roger Waters and Ken Loach have criticised Nick Cave for comments he made defending his decision to play in Israel. Cave said on Sunday that he was taking a “principled stand” against the boycott movement’s attempts to “silence” artists.

The Guardian reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin briefed US President Donald Trump on his plan to end the Syrian civil war in a phone call yesterday. The call came after Putin held a surprise meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad yesterday and before he holds ceasefire talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani today.

The Times reports that Putin yesterday claimed “victory” in the war against ISIS during his meeting with Assad. The Telegraph reports that Assad thanked Putin for “saving our country”.

Con Coughlin writes in the Telegraph that by fixating on Brexit, the UK risks an erosion of its influence over global affairs, he points to the fact that Britain has no voice in the Syrian peace negotiations as proof of this.

The FT reports that the current turmoil in the Middle East has led to a thaw in Israeli-Arab relations. The article cites the warming relations between Israel and Egypt and Israel and Saudi Arabia as evidence of the trend.

Maariv and Yediot Ahronot report that Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri has returned to Lebanon for the first time since announcing his resignation in a televised speech from Saudi Arabia two weeks ago. Since then he has visited Paris, Egypt, and Cyprus, and met with the presidents of those countries.  It is thought both Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and French President Emmanuelle Macron are trying to mediate a solution that would involve nullifying Hariri’s resignation. Kan Radio News reports that Lebanese President Michel Aoun’s has claimed that Israel is threatening his country with a new war. In a speech given on the occasion of Lebanese Independence Day, Aoun said that Israel was continuing to violate his country’s sovereignty by sea, air and land. The Lebanese president called upon the Arab countries to act wisely and not to “push the Lebanese into the fire”.

Israel Hayom reports a new poll conducted among Israeli-Arabs, excluding the Druze community. They report 60 per cent are proud to be Israeli, while only 14 per cent would prefer to live under Palestinian rule.  73 per cent feel they belong, to one degree or another, to Israeli society.

All the Israeli papers report yesterday’s meeting between Presidents Putin and al-Assad.  Haaretz notes their declaration that “we’re on our way to a political solution in Syria,” while Maariv refers to “Putin’s new Syria”.   They also report that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Netanyahu expressed Israel’s firm opposition to Iran’s military entrenchment in Syria.

Haaretz report that the IDF opened fire at two Palestinians who crossed the border into Israel from the northern Gaza Strip, wounding one of them.  The wounded man was evacuated for medical treatment, while the other was taken in for questioning. The military said that a knife was found on one of them.

Yediot Ahronot and Haaretz both report the story of about the spokesman of Breaking the Silence who claimed he beat a Palestinian in the course of his military service, even though the investigation conducted by the State Attorney’s Office ruled that he did not and that he lied.  Breaking the Silence now claim that the State Attorney’s Office’s had questioned the wrong Palestinian about the wrong incident and provided footage showing him arresting a different Palestinian.  In response, the State Attorney’s Office insisted that the details it had, about the timing and the circumstances, corresponded with the incident in which the first Palestinian was arrested and did not tally with any other incident.

Israel Hayom reports that a young girl, who was badly injured in a 2011 terror attack on a bus in Jerusalem, has died. A British female tourist was killed in the attack and 68 people were injured.