The BBC reports from Gaza City on the recent escalation of tensions between Israel and the Gaza Strip, prompted by violence on the border. “Protesters have burnt tyres, thrown stones and explosive devices, and released incendiary balloons and kites into southern Israel, which have set fire to farmland and scared Israeli communities living nearby,” it reports, while profiling Gazans whose entry to Israel for work has been temporarily suspended as a result. Israeli military commentator Or Heller is quoted saying that while Hamas seeks calm in Gaza, it pursues violence and provocation in the West Bank. “We are always seeing with Hamas efforts to maintain relative quiet in…  ‘the state of Hamas’ [in Gaza], and to export the terrorism to the West Bank,” he said.

The Independent and Reuters meanwhile, cover the reopening of the Erez Crossing between Israel and the Gaza Strip after nearly two weeks of closure (for more see Israeli media summary below).

The Independent also features German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius and his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant signing a memorandum of understanding on security cooperation in Berlin yesterday. (For more, see Israeli media summary below.)

Much of the Israeli media covers reports that Prime Minister Netanyahu’s recent talks with US President Joe Biden on the potential normalisation deal between Israel and Saudi Arabia included Biden’s wish that Israel take “steps to ensure the viability of a two-state solution”. Reports further suggest that Biden made no specific demands in this regard. I24 News also features comments on normalisation made yesterday by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Hailing a potential deal as “transformative”, Blinken said: “achieving it is not easy. There are really hard issues that are on the table. We’re working through them… I don’t want to put a percentage number on it, but I can say this: I think we’re invested in really testing this out. I believe the Saudis and the Israelis are as well. But we still have to grapple with a lot of hard practical issues. And whether we can get there and when we can get there, that we don’t know.”

Yediot Ahronot reports Defence Minister Yoav Gallant’s comments yesterday on the normalisation deal. Referring obliquely to the prospect of Saudi Arabia achieving a civilian nuclear programme as part of the deal, Gallant said “peace with Saudi Arabia is a blessing for Israel, but alongside that, we are making every effort to assess the risks and ensure that we are moving in the right and responsible direction.” Gallant was speaking during an official visit to Germany, and also commented on the coming end of international sanctions against Iran’s missile programme. “If the arms embargo on Iran is lifted next month,” he said, “Iranian drones responsible for the killing of civilians around the world would be just a precursor to what we may see in the future… Iran will have the freedom to deploy advanced missiles, alongside its pursuit of nuclear weapons.” Whilst in Germany, Gallant signed a security cooperation agreement with his German counterpart Boris Pistorius, which includes the sale of the Israeli Arrow 3 missile defence system to Germany as part of the largest-ever Israeli arms deal, estimated at four billion euros (£3.46 billion). “Eighty years after World War II, Israel and Germany are joining hands in building a safer future for both nations,” Gallant told a press conference. “Today’s Germany is not the Germany of the past; it has been helping Israel for decades.” Pistorius said “it is, without exaggerating, a historic day for both our countries,” describing Arrow as “one of the best systems, if not the best.”

Maariv cites Lebanese media reports that following Qatari, Egyptian, and UN mediation, Israel has reached agreement with Hamas allowing for “non-escalation… at Al-Aqsa Mosque” and “a return to previous understandings regarding the economic situation in the Gaza Strip,” including the reopening of the Erez Crossing to Gazans working in Israel which was announced yesterday. These measures are dependent on the recent violence at the Gaza border, which has included rioting and the launching of incendiary balloons, coming to an end. The report also claims that Hamas has made demands of the Qataris for an increase in grants, amid reports of tension between the ruling Gazan faction and the Emirati state.

I24 News reports Israel and Morocco signing an agricultural and water cooperation deal yesterday. Israeli Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Avi Dichter confirmed the agreement after meeting with Moroccan counterparts in the Moroccan city of Agadir yesterday. He said that the two countries, whose peace was secured by the Abraham Accords, were taking “important steps in the field of strengthening the partnership between them so that this agreement is only the beginning.”

Haaretz covers the Attorney General dropping an investigation into National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, related to an incident in Tel Aviv in 2021, in which Ben Gvir was suspected of threatening Arab security guards with a gun during a confrontation. Prosecutors concluded that the evidence did not provide “for a reasonable chance of convicting Ben-Gvir.” The Jewish Power leader had claimed that he had drawn his weapon fearing an imminent threat to his life, a claim prosecutors found “could not be dismissed”.

Ynet features US State Department officials calling for calm and respect for religion, following recent clashes between secular and religious Israelis in Tel Aviv. “We have seen the reports,” said officials. “The United States supports the right to freedom of assembly. Peaceful protests are a core part of any democratic society, and we urge all parties to maintain order and refrain from violence whenever doing so.” The comments came as the US eased the entry of Israelis to the country by including Israel in its visa waiver programme. Negotiations for excluding Israelis from visa application requirements had been ongoing for many months before the announcement was made this week.