The BBC and the Daily Mail report that Israel plans to build 1,000 new homes in the West Bank. The Daily Mail reports that the Civil Administration, the body that oversees civilian affairs in the West Bank, said its planning committee had approved a total of 1,015 housing units. Peace Now, an anti-settlement watchdog group, said the decision included final approval for immediate construction of nearly 400 homes, with the rest requiring further bureaucratic approvals. It said most of the approved units were in isolated communities that would likely have to be removed as part of any future peace deal with the Palestinians. The BBC reports that more than 600,000 Jews live in about 140 settlements built since Israel’s capture of the West Bank and East Jerusalem in 1967 – land the Palestinians claim for a future state. There are also some 100 outposts – small settlements built without the Israeli government’s authorisation – across the West Bank. Israeli Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman had promised to build 400 units in the settlement of Adam, in response an attack there last month when an Israeli civilian was stabbed to death and two others wounded by a Palestinian.

The Daily Mail reports that Gaza is running out of fuel and medicine. UN political chief Rosemary Dui Carlo told the UN Security Council that the UN has run out of funding to pay for fuel needed for hospitals, water plants and other critical facilities in the Gaza Strip. Di Carlo appealed for $4.5m to ensure essential services for the rest of the year.

Reuters reports that Israel’s central bank has criticised a government plan to increase defence spending. Israel’s central bank said that it would come at the expense of civilian spending and probably increase the budget deficit and state’s debt burden. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told ministers that to meet expected threats in the next ten years, he intends to increase defence spending by 0.2 – 0.3 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) under the “2030 Security Concept”. He said his goal was for annual average economic growth of 3 to 4 per cent and average spending of 6 per cent of GDP for all of Israel’s security needs.

The Times reports that US National Security Advisor John Bolton has said Iranian troops must be withdrawn from Syria as a precondition for a peace deal. He said that the US ought to use “leverage” over Russia, one of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s two key backers, to force it to get rid of Iranian troops. Bolton is also due meet Nikolai Patrushev, his Russian counterpart, today. “We’re going to see what we and others can agree in terms of resolving the conflict in Syria. But the one prerequisite is the withdrawal of all Iranian forces back in Iran,” he said.

The Telegraph, FT and the BBC report on the flotation of Saudi Arabia’s state owned oil company Aramco. The Telegraph reports that Saudi Arabia has abandoned plans for a stock market listing. The FT reports that Riyadh remains committed to an initial public offering of Aramco, saying the listing would go ahead “at a time of its own choosing, when conditions are optimum”.  Saudi Energy Minister Khalid Al Falih said that while the government was still committed to the sale, its timing would depend on multiple factors, including “favourable market conditions” and Saudi Aramco’s planned acquisition of a stake in Saudi petrochemicals maker Sabic. The BBC reports that Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince, first proposed the sale early in 2016 as part of his economic reform agenda, to bring Western regulation and scrutiny to the company, as well as raising cash to reduce the country’s large budget deficit.

The Daily Mail reports that Netanyahu will become the first Israeli Prime Minister to visit Lithuania. Netanyahu will also meet his Latvian and Estonian counterparts during the two day visit to the Baltics.

In the Israeli media, Yediot Ahronoth reports that several senior Israeli officials believe the Trump administration’s Middle East peace plan will ultimately be abandoned due to Palestinian opposition. They add that all the ideas that have been presented by the Americans are a far cry from the Palestinians’ threshold conditions. Israeli Security Cabinet ministers said that the White House failed to adequately anticipate Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’s opposition and his efforts to persuade the Arabs, and first and foremost the Saudis, to reject the plan as soon as it is completed.

Maariv reports that Israeli officials have said in response to Trump’s statements that Israel would have to “pay a higher price” due to America’s recognition of Jerusalem as Israel’s capital: “John Bolton clarified matters with his statements last night in Jerusalem that US recognition of Jerusalem was a natural thing to do. Majdi Khaledi, a political adviser to PA Chairman Abu Mazen, said yesterday that the only way in which the United States would be able to compensate the Palestinians for relocating the American embassy to Jerusalem would be “recognition of the Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.”

Israel Hayom and Haaretz report on the Civil Administration’s Supreme Planning Committee approval of 620 new housing units in West Bank settlements, in which 370 are in Adam. The number of housing units that were approved for construction was criticised by the Yesha Council, which said yesterday: “That is a meagre amount and the smallest number of housing units to have been approved in the past year and a half.”

Yediot Ahronoth reports that Amana, the executive settlement branch of Gush Emunim, is moving its offices from the Ramat Eshkol neighbourhood of Jerusalem to Sheikh Jarrah in the city’s east, near the police headquarters and the compound where several government ministries have offices. Amana executives said that the new offices will help to bolster Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem. The paper adds that the plot that Amana’s new offices were built on was given to the non-profit organisation 26 years ago by Jerusalem’s legendary mayor, Teddy Kollek, who was affiliated with the Labour Party.

The Times of Israel reports that amid Iran deal tensions, German Chancellor Angela Merkel is due to visit Israel in October.