BBC News Online, Metro, the Telegraph and the Daily Mail report that Poland’s President Andrzej  Duda will sign a controversial Holocaust Bill into law, despite protests from the US and Israel. Duda defended the legislation, which will make it illegal to accuse Poland of complicity in Nazi crimes committed under occupation. The Polish government says it aims to stop the Polish nation or state being blamed for the atrocities. Israel is worried the law could stifle the truth about the role of some Poles, and says it hopes Poland will amend it.

BBC News, the Telegraph  and the Guardian, report on the Assad regime’s recent offensive against Syrian rebels in Eastern Ghouta, outside Damascus. The UN has appealed for an immediate ceasefire in Syria, saying they need at least a month to deliver aid to conflict zones and evacuate the critically ill. Their call came as air strikes reportedly killed more than 40 people in the rebel-held enclave. UN war crimes experts also said they were investigating reports of bombs containing chlorine being used there.The Times reports that the so-called Islamic State has seized its chance to regroup and launch attacks in Iraq and Syria as sectarian conflicts divide the forces that once fought together to defeat the jihadists. The terrorist group has been launching daily attacks since October and has returned to fight against the Assad regime in northwestern Syria, from where it was driven out more than two years ago. Its fighters appeared again in Hama province late last year and quickly expanded their control at the expense of other rebel groups until it had an area of more than 400 sq m on the borders of Aleppo, Hama and Idlib provinces.

The Independent reports that Israeli Education Minister Naftali Bennett said on Monday he was “honoured” Poland had cancelled his visit to Warsaw this week because he refused to back down from condemnation of the Bill that would outlaw suggesting Poland was complicit in the Holocaust. Earlier on Monday, Bennett said he would travel to Poland to discuss the Bill, which Israeli officials have said amounts to Holocaust denial. However, Poland’s government spokeswoman said there would be no such visit. “The blood of Polish Jews cries from the ground, and no law will silence it,” Bennett later said in a statement. “The government of Poland cancelled my visit, because I mentioned the crimes of its people. I am honoured.”

The Telegraph, Yahoo News UK via Reuters and Daily Mail via AFP report that Israeli security forces have tracked down and killed a Palestinian militant responsible for murdering Israeli Rabbi Raziel Shevach in the West Bank, authorities have said. Shevach, a 35-year-old father of six, was killed in a drive-by shooting on 9 January near his home in the illegal settlement outpost of Havat Gilad. He was the second rabbi to have been murdered in the West Bank in as many days, in seemingly unrelated attacks. Israel launched a wide manhunt for the killers of Mr Shevach and Israeli troops raided the village of Yamoun in the northern West Bank at dawn on Tuesday.

The Independent reports on Saeb Erekat’s comments about US envoy to the United Nations Nikki Haley, telling her to “shut up” with her criticism of Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas. Erekat, the secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), attacked Haley for her criticism of Abbas’ recent speech, which called Israel a “colonial project that has nothing to do with Jews” and attacked Donald Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem as its capital.

The Daily Mail via AFP reports that African migrants to Israel who face deportation say they would rather be imprisoned than sent to a country they know nothing about. Israel is working to expel thousands of Eritreans and Sudanese who entered illegally over the years, giving them an ultimatum: leave by 1 April or risk being imprisoned indefinitely. As the migrants could face danger or imprisonment if returned to their homelands, Israel is offering to relocate them to an unnamed third country, which aid workers say is Rwanda or Uganda.

The Daily Mail via AFP reports that Lebanon on Tuesday pledged a diplomatic push to prevent Israel’s construction of a dividing wall between the two countries as tensions mount over off-shore exploration for oil and gas. Lebanese President Michel Aoun, Prime Minister Saad Hariri and parliament speaker Nabih Berri pledged to “pursue efforts to mobilise at the regional and international level to block building of the wall by Israel”, a statement said after a meeting.

The Daily Mail via AFP reports that dozens of truck drivers prevented goods from entering the Gaza Strip from Israel on Tuesday in a day-long protest over the humanitarian situation there. The trucks belonging to Gazan businesses blocked the roads near the Kerem Shalom crossing into Israel, the main entry point for imports into Gaza, in a protest organised by private sector associations.

The Daily Mail via AP reports that European Union officials have called on Israel to rebuild two classrooms demolished at an EU-funded school in the West Bank. The EU’s representative offices in Jerusalem and the West Bank issued a statement on Tuesday expressing “strong concern” about the demolition of the classrooms, built at a Palestinian school near Jerusalem.

Israel Radio reports a security guard sustained light injuries in a stabbing attack that was carried out in Karmei Tzur in the Etzion Bloc around 5am this morning.  A man came to the gate of the settlement and stabbed the guard in the arm. Medics evacuated the guard, a 34-year-old man, to hospital in Jerusalem. Another security guard shot and killed the attacker.

All the Israeli media prominently report the funeral yesterday of 29 year old Rabbi Itamar Ben Gal who was stabbed to death in a terrorist attack at the Ariel junction.  Haaretz notes that hundreds of people attended the funeral and quote Rabbi Eliezar Melamed, head of the Har Barcha seminary, who eulogized Ben Gal, calling him an inspirational teacher who loved his students. Maariv and Yediot Ahronot quote Ben Gal’s widow, “I promise you we’ll be strong. I will continue raising our children, and we will live with joy, like you wanted.”  They also quoted Ambassador to Israel Daniel Friedman on twitter, who said: “20 years ago I gave an ambulance to Har Brakha hoping it would be used to deliver healthy babies. Instead, a man from Har Brakha was just murdered by a terrorist, leaving behind a wife and four children. Palestinian ‘leaders’ have praised the killer. Praying for the Ben Gal family.”

Similarly all the media concentrate on the manhunt in Nablus for the perpetrator of the attack.  Haaretz notes one Palestinian was killed while dozens were injured as a result of the IDF Operation to locate the terrorist in Nablus.  Israel Radio reports the injuries are mostly from inhaling tear gas and rubber bullets.  This morning, the IDF forces have begun to pull back from Nablus, where they had encircled several buildings, one of which houses relatives of the terrorist.

Yediot Ahronot includes details of how the SWAT team killed Ahmed Jarrar, the leader of the cell that murdered Rabbi Raziel Shevah in January.  Jarrar had succeeded in evading the security forces several times. The Shin Bet received intelligence indicating that the suspect was apparently hiding in one of several buildings in the village Yamoun near Jenin. The SWAT team combatants quietly encircled the house, called on him to come out, and opened fire at the house as part of the protocol. Jarrar was observed exiting the building in a suspicious manner—while armed. He did not fire at the force, but was shot to death. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said following the killing: “The security forces will reach anyone who tries to harm Israel’s citizens, and we will bring them to justice. This will also be the case with the murderers of Rabbi Itamar Ben Gal.”

Channel Two News reported last night that the police intend to submit their summaries of Cases 1,000 and 2,000 to Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit and State Attorney Shai Nitzan early next week. They suggest the investigative team is likely to recommend that Netanyahu be charged not only with fraud and breach of trust, but with accepting bribes as well. Police Commissioner Insp. Gen. Roni Alsheich is scheduled to hold a meeting this morning with top police officers and the investigative team to come to a final decision on the wording of the summaries and the indictment recommendations. Alsheich gave an interview to Uvda – Fact, Channel Two’s leading investigative news show hosted by Ilana Dayan, which is scheduled to be broadcast this evening. According to excerpts quoted by Maariv, “You say about yourself that you’ve got a sense of smell for three things,” Dayan said to him. “Yes, cilantro, guavas and liars,” replied Alsheich with a laugh. Dayan later asked him: “If the announcement is made, you’ll be remembered as the person who brought down a sitting prime minister.” Alsheich replied: “I don’t like it, but that’s my job.” The police commissioner went on to say, “I don’t work for Netanyahu.”

Maariv reports that the security forces are beginning to prepare the area around the Netiv Haavot neighbourhood in the Elazar settlement in the Etzion Bloc for demolition, which is scheduled to take place by the end of February.  The local residents blocked the heavy machinery and refused to leave the premises for several hours.