The Daily Mail reports that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the Israeli military to be ready to attack Iran within 15 days back in 2011, according to the former head of the country’s spy agency. Tamir Pardo, who served as Mossad chief from 2011 to 2016, told Israeli TV that he and then-Chief of Staff Benny Gantz had been told to bolster Israel’s defences in preparation for a response to the attack. Pardo added that the order was not a drill and he was convinced at the time that it would result in open war. Pardo said: “Such a plan is not something that you just order for practice. If this is ordered, it is done for one of two reasons: either because you really intend for such a thing to take place or because you want to send a signal to someone.”

The Telegraph and the Times report that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad wants to expel American forces and their Kurdish-led allies from Syria if they do not withdraw voluntarily after a period of negotiation. Speaking to Russia Today, the Syrian leader said that there were no Iranian troops within his borders apart from officers assisting the country’s own forces. Assad said his government had “started now opening doors for negotiations” with the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-dominated militia alliance that is backed by Washington and controls parts of northern and eastern Syria where US troops are stationed. If they did not agree to withdraw, he would use force, he said. “This is the first option. If not, we’re going to resort to … liberating those areas by force. We don’t have any other options, with the Americans or without the Americans,” he said. “The Americans should leave, somehow they’re going to leave”.

BBC News Online and the Independent report that the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) says it will send two surgical teams to Gaza to help with an “unprecedented health crisis”. More than 13,000 Palestinians have been injured since violence flared up along the border with Israel in March, the aid agency says. As well as surgeons, it will send other medical staff and additional supplies. “The recent demonstrations and violence that took place along the Gaza border… have triggered a health crisis of unprecedented magnitude in this part of the world,” the ICRC’s head of operations for the Middle East, Robert Mardini, told a press conference on Thursday.

Metro, the Sun and LBC Radio report that Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn personally holds “antisemitic views,” according to a Jewish leader, which he says could drive Jews out of Britain if he becomes Prime Minister. Jonathan Arkush, President of the Board of Deputies, said the Labour leader’s failure to stamp out antisemitism in his party had led to British Jews asking if they “have a future here”. Arkush added: “His associations are clear. He is a patron of Palestine Solidarity Campaign – if you look at its logo and language, it’s quite clear its world picture has no room for Israel.

BBC News Online published an analysis article by Diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus, which questions whether Israel is driving a wedge between Russia and Iran and investigates the relationship between the three countries and their respective roles in the Syrian conflict.

Channel 4 News broadcast from the Syrian-Israel border in the Golan Heights and discussed the current tensions in the region, with the report questioning whether the Islamists will be defeated.

The Times reports that the wife of Israeli Prime Minister, Sara Netanyahu, tried to assault a senior civil servant after he failed to agree to pay for renovations to the family’s private home, according to news reports. Haaretz reported that Eli Groner, Director-General of the Prime Minister’s Office, was forced to restrain Sara Netanyahu until another member of staff separated them. Netanyahu had sought to persuade Groner to sign off the expenses of redecorating the couple’s private weekend villa in Caesarea. The incident, which other employees said took place in January, were denied by Netanyahu. Groner also denied the report and the Prime Minister’s Spokesman described the allegations as “fairy tales”.

The Times reports that Lebanon is working with the Assad regime to return thousands of refugees to Syria. As the Syrian army, backed by Iran and Russia, has recovered territory, President Aoun has called for refugees to return to “secure areas” before a deal to end the war, in spite of the international view that it is not yet safe. Lebanon has about a million registered Syrian refugees, according to the United Nations. The government puts the number at 1.5m, equivalent to a quarter of the population.

The Daily Mail via AFP reports that the European Union on Thursday urged Israel to reconsider its decision to demolish a Palestinian Bedouin village in the West Bank, saying it undermines “prospects for a lasting peace”. A statement from the EU denounced the intended destruction of the Khan Al-Ahmar village. “Building new settlements for Israelis while demolishing Palestinian homes in the same area will only further entrench a one-state reality of unequal rights, perpetual occupation and conflict,” the statement said. The EU referenced a decision made on Wednesday to build nearly 2,000 settlement units in the West Bank, while demolishing Khan Al-Ahmar, “the main land reserve of a viable and contiguous Palestinian state”.

Maariv leads with a report by Ben Caspit indicating that Israel is engaged in intensive talks with Moscow, Washington, Cairo, Doha and Amman with the aim of reaching an arrangement on both the northern and southern fronts. Caspit cites IDF officials who say that this is a golden opportunity to reach an arrangement, while Hamas is at an “all-time low.” Yediot Ahronoth’s Yossi Yehoshua writes similarly that the army favours reaching understandings with Hamas at this time: “The army is shouting to the political echelon: adopt our recommendations on relief measures to the residents, and reach an arrangement with Hamas, because this is the most convenient period for Israel to maximize its achievements.”

Haaretz quotes a senior IDF officer who said that there is an opportunity for a long-term arrangement in Gaza, and Hamas is willing to talk. The Times of Israel reports similarly, saying that a senior officer says Israel and Gaza are at “watershed” and that Hamas’s return of the bodies of fallen IDF soldiers is a precondition for long-term quiet. Israel Hayom also quotes a high ranking officer who said that if Hamas make concessions, they’ll get something in return.

The Times of Israel reports that the US says it will veto a Kuwaiti UN Security Council resolution urging international protection for Palestinians which did not mention Hamas’ role in the cross-border flare-up.

Yediot Ahronot and Israel Hayom report that the Iranians are on their way out of Southern Syria, with Israel Hayom’s Oded Granot writing about a potential “Tehran-Moscow Rift”. An Israeli diplomatic source told Hadashot TV News that “even if it takes time and even if we have to accept [Syrian President Bashar] Assad coming back, at the end of these talks the Iranian threat in Syria will be lifted”. Channel 10 news quoted a senior Israeli official who said Israel won’t object to Assad staying in power, provided that Iran’s presence in Syria is eliminated.

Maariv reports that Environmental Protection Minister Zeev Elkin (Likud) announced his decision to run for Mayor of Jerusalem yesterday, despite having not yet been publicly endorsed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his party. A statement issued on Elkin’s behalf read, “Dear residents of Jerusalem, I informed the Prime Minister today that I have decided to run for mayor. For Jerusalem, I am prepared to forego the salary of a high-ranking minister and a Security Cabinet member, for Jerusalem is a challenge on the national level, of the utmost importance. I ask for your confidence and your support in the election. Elkin’s fellow contenders will include, among others, Moshe Lion, the candidate for Yisrael Beiteinu and Shas. Lion, a 56-year-old accountant by trade, became Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat’s right-hand man after losing to him in the previous mayoral election.

Yediot Ahronoth and Haaretz report on the investigative journalism program Uvda, which reported yesterday that Netanyahu asked former GSS Director Yoram Cohen to take the unprecedented action of wiretapping then-Mossad Director Tamir Pardo and then-chief of staff Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, which Cohen refused. Officials in the Prime Minister’s Office denied this, adding that the Prime Minister had never asked to have the Chief of Staff and the Mossad Director wiretapped and called the report an absolute lie.

Maariv and Haaretz report that Sara Netanyahu assaulted the Prime Minister’s Office Director-General Eli Groner during a meeting about renovating her family’s private home in Caesarea. Sara Netanyahu called the report delusional and one of the most tendentious and malicious lies that the Israeli media had spread about her in over 20 years.