BBC News reports that 11 people have died at the La Mirada Mall in Damascus after the shopping centre was engulfed in fire. While two people were rescued, some fear the death toll may go up. Dozens of business were destroyed. An investigation is underway into the cause of the blaze.

The Guardian reports that a viral video showing detainees in a Cairo prison has been deemed “fake news” by Egyptian authorities. It is believed that 13 people were arrested for petty crimes, subsequently arrested and brought to the El-Salam First police station and then suffered abused at the hands of police and security officers. Egyptian authorities claim the detainees “inflicted injuries on themselves.”

The Associated Press reports that it is possible Iran suffered another failed space launch, as seen in satellite images from Maxar Technologies. Iran has been trying to reinvigorate this program and the specific timing of the launch was connected to the last-minute negotiations aimed at saving the JCPA nuclear deal.

All the Israeli media covers Yad Vashem’s (Israel’s Holocaust Memorial Museum) condemnation of Russia’s attach on the Babi Yar Holocaust memorial site. A statement released said, “We call on the international community to take concerted measures to safeguard civilian lives as well as these historical sites because of their irreplaceable value for research, education and commemoration of the Holocaust.” Following the bombing of the site, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid called for “the sanctity of the cite to be preserved and honoured.”

Sever Plocker comments in Yediot Ahronot about the moral choice facing Israel in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He condemns “all the stammering and the vaguely worded statements. Israel must change course and choose a side in the war in Ukraine.” He mentions the Russian bombing of the Babi Yar site, writing “The Russian bombardment of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv yesterday evening in very close proximity to the Babi Yar massacre memorial site cast the moral-historic absurdity of the Israeli position in even starker relief. No diplomatic condemnation of the bombardment can reflect the enormity of the horror: once again, the same forces that tried for decades to hide and to blur the murder in Babi Yar have come to elide it.”

In Maariv, Ben Caspit writes about how Kyiv might become Stalingrad, commenting that it is “a besieged, bombarded, forlorn city that comes to serve as an icon of resistance, fortitude and resoluteness. The role played by the Wehrmacht in 1941 is now being played by the Red Army, and vice versa. The current-day inferior Ukrainian army is playing the role that was played by the Red Army, which was being beaten back in World War II. It continued to be beaten back until Stalingrad.” He also writes about Russian President Vladimir Putin and how he will survive western sanctions, “Putin is a sophisticated animal. He can smell weakness thousands of kilometres away. According to intelligence that was obtained by the West, he has an informal agreement with the Chinese, who will provide him with backing and cover that will allow him to survive the economic crisis.”

Yediot Ahronot and Israel Hayom report that the Supreme Court overturned the ruling by Jerusalem’s District Court regarding an order for Arab families to vacate their homes in Sheikh Jarrah. According to Israel Hayom, “The Supreme Court justices ruled that until the process of recording land rights is concluded and the court can deliberate on the facts of the case, the families in question can remain in the houses under the reduced rent arrangement that has been in effect since the 1980s—an arrangement that they had violated.”

Maariv reports that Defence Minister Benny Gantz visited the IDF Gaza division with IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kochavi yesterday. Gantz said, “Since the Operation Guardian of the Walls we have created a new equation for deterrence. We are building up our forces and operational plans, and we are creating a civilian response in order to work with the residents of Gaza. We intend to expand our civilian, humanitarian policy, including the immediate increase in the number of workers leaving Gaza to work in Israel. If, in addition to maintaining the quiet, we make progress in bringing back the Israeli POW’s  and missing citizens, we can expand our policies and develop the Gaza Strip.”

Israel Hayom reports that Iran will not accept a deadline to revive nuclear talks, and claims that any attempt to do so, is politically motivated by world powers. Iran is refusing France’s demand that IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) inspectors continue investigating the military areas of Iran’s nuclear programme. Iranian officials insist this demand be dropped or risk failure of the revival of the JCPOA nuclear agreement. The UK’s lead negotiator in Vienna wrote on Twitter “We will always reject any attempt to compromise IAEA independence.

Haaretz reports that the Knesset has postponed a bill that would impose term limits on the Prime Minister’s time in office. A final vote on the bill was pushed back by a week and would limit the term to eight years. The bill will need to be approved by at least 61 of the Knesset’s 120 members, as it is an amendment to a Basic Law. Should the bill pass, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could serve as prime minister again as the bill would not apply retroactively.