The BBC, Times and Financial Times report that US President Donald Trump has issued a stern warning to Iran, suggesting it will be destroyed if a conflict breaks out between the two countries. The BBC reports that in a tweet on Sunday, Trump said: “If Iran wants to fight, that will be the official end of Iran.” He added: “Never threaten the United States again!” The US has deployed additional warships and planes to the Gulf in recent days. In an interview with Fox News broadcast on Sunday, the president vowed that he would not let Iran develop nuclear weapons but said he did not want a conflict. “I’m not somebody that wants to go into war, because war hurts economies, war kills people most importantly – by far most importantly,” he said. Iran has also moved to talk down concerns over the escalating tensions. On Saturday, its foreign minister insisted there was no appetite for war. “There will not be a war since neither we want a war nor does anyone have the illusion they can confront Iran in the region,” Mohammad Javad Zarif told state news agency Irna. And on Sunday Iran’s Fars news agency reported that the commander of the elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, Maj Gen Hossein Salami, also said Iran was not seeking a conflict – but added that the US was “afraid of war and don’t have the will for it”.

In the Telegraph, Raf Sanchez writes on: “How Iran’s Revolutionary Guard are ‘jabbing’ at the US without provoking full-scale war”. For now, concludes Sanchez, it seems that almost no one – including Trump, Iran’s leadership, Saudi Arabia, Israel, or the EU – is eager for a full blown conflict. But that does not mean there will not be one, either through miscalculation or misunderstanding.

The BBC reports that the Palestinian Foreign Minister has branded the anticipated US plan for ending the Israel-Palestinian conflict an unacceptable “surrender act”. Riad Malki said the plan that Donald Trump calls the “deal of the century” was in fact “the consecration of [Palestinians’] century-old ordeal”. Speaking at Chatham House, Malki said all the indications were that: “This [US] administration is preparing to give its stamp of approval to Israel’s colonial policies.. When it comes to taking the lead on peace efforts, the world left the steering wheel in the hand of a reckless driver… with a view that we should wait till the reckless driver goes over a cliff or runs over the Palestinian people [before doing] something about it.”

The Guardian reports that, on Sunday, the White House said that the US will hold an international economic “workshop” in Bahrain in late June, seeking to encourage investment in the Palestinian territories as the first part of Donald Trump’s long-awaited Middle East peace plan. The conference in Manama on 25 and 26 June will bring together government and business leaders from Europe, the Middle East and Asia, a senior Trump administration official said. Attendees will attempt to help jump-start the economic portion of the US peace initiative, which is expected to include proposals for resolving political issues at the heart of the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict. However, a second senior US official declined to say whether Israeli and Palestinian officials would take part.

The Guardian reports that Israeli culture minister, Miri Regev, has criticised the display of Palestinian flags during the Eurovision song contest final in Tel Aviv on Saturday night, including by one of Madonna’s dancers. “It was an error,” Regev told journalists before a cabinet meeting on Sunday. “Politics and a cultural event should not be mixed, with all due respect to Madonna.” Regev criticised the Israeli public broadcaster Kan for not preventing the flags from being shown, though it was unclear what could have been done. During Madonna’s performance at the final, two of her dancers could be seen side by side with Israeli and Palestinian flags on their backs. The gesture was an apparent call for unity, but Eurovision organisers seek to keep all politics out of the event, and the display of Palestinian flags inside Israel is deeply controversial.

The Financial Times reports that on Sunday evening, a rocket hit the fortified area of Baghdad which houses the US embassy, adding to jitters after American diplomats were evacuated from Iraq this week because of rising tensions between the US and Iran. The Iraqi military said that a “rocket fell in the middle of the Green Zone” — the area of central Baghdad which holds foreign embassies and government buildings. In a statement, the Iraqi military said the Katyusha rocket, a notoriously inaccurate explosive, caused no casualties. It did not say who had launched the attack. The US state department later confirmed the incident, saying there had been no claim of responsibility for the “low-grade rocket”.

The Guardian reports that British nationals are to be banned from entering or remaining in parts of conflict-stricken Syria in the first use of a controversial new power. The Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, will reveal on Monday how he expects the law, which makes it a criminal offence to enter or remain in a “designated area” overseas, to be used. Addressing counter-terrorism experts and senior members of the security community in central London, Javid is to propose the power is used to target Idlib in Syria’s rebel-held north-west, where there has been devastating fighting in the last eight years, as well as the country’s north-east, a region controlled by Kurdish forces but once overrun by Islamic State militants. A person convicted of entering or remaining in these areas, once designated, could face a jail term of up to 10 years, a fine, or both. The measure was written into the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act, which passed into law last month.

The Independent reports that the UK government approved arms sales totalling at least £11.4m in the weeks after the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. Export licenses for military vehicles, combat aircraft, ammunition and electronic warfare equipment were issues despite international condemnation of the killing. One £9.1m shipment of “patrol/assault craft” was waved through just three days after the prominent journalist disappeared while visiting the Saudi consulate in Turkey on 2 October.

The BBC, Guardian and Times report that an explosion targeting a tourist bus has injured at least 16 people near the Grand Egyptian Museum, next to the pyramids in Giza. The BBC reports that South African tourists are among the injured. Most of those hurt suffered minor injuries, while three were treated in hospital, officials say. A device went off close to the museum fence as the bus was passing. According to state-run broadcaster Nile News TV, the bus was carrying 25 South African tourists and a security source confirmed for Reuters that South Africans had been aboard. Seven South African tourists and 10 Egyptian civilians were injured.

In the Times, Mohamed Ezz writes on poverty in Egypt. In a piece titled: “Cairo’s poor break their Ramadan fast with mouldy scraps”, Ezz writes that poverty and unemployment rates in Egypt have soared since President Sisi’s government signed a £9 billion loan deal with the International Monetary Fund in 2016, intended to reduce spending and cut the budget deficit. The reform programme that followed — which included fuel subsidy cuts, the floating of the Egyptian pound and new taxes — has left the currency weakened and inflation in double digits. Sisi’s attempts to reinvigorate the Egyptian economy include projects such as a new capital city 30 miles east of Cairo and a second Suez canal. Investing in infrastructure can create jobs and boost growth, but many ask whether Egypt can afford the projects when large numbers are struggling to make ends meet. Wages have not kept pace with inflation, and with a population of almost 100 million, 60 per cent are either poor or “vulnerable”, according to the World Bank.

The Financial Times reports that Saudi Arabia’s energy minister has said global oil supplies were “plentiful” and inventories needed to shrink, signalling the kingdom‘s reluctance to rapidly raise production despite escalating geopolitical tensions and the threat of potential disruptions. The comments come as fraught US-Iran relations, attacks on the kingdom’s oil infrastructure and volatile supplies in big producer countries have put energy investors on alert. “The market is in a delicate situation,” said Khalid al-Falih on Sunday ahead of a meeting of oil officials in Jeddah to discuss the effectiveness of a deal between Opec and Russia to curb output by 1.2m barrels a day.

The Independent reports that Saudi Arabia has said it does not want war but stands ready to respond with “all strength” to defend itself against Iran, as the US stepped up naval exercises in the Persian Gulf. The Saudis, who have accused Tehran of ordering drone strikes five days ago on two of its oil pumping stations, told Iran the kingdom would not stand by while being attacked. “The kingdom of Saudi Arabia does not want war in the region and does not seek that… but at the same time, if the other side chooses war, the kingdom will fight this with all force and determination and it will defend itself, its citizens and its interests,” foreign minister Adel al-Jubeir said. “We want peace and stability in the region but we won’t stand with our hands bound as the Iranians continuously attack. Iran has to understand that” he added.

In the Telegraph, Andrew Critchlow writes: “Oil markets are on high alert – but attacks in the Strait of Hormuz are not their only concern”.

The Independent reports that Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guards force has raided three modelling agencies, accusing the companies and their aspiring models of breaking strict Islamic dress codes for women. General Mohsen Karimi, a commander in the city of Arak, said staff at the underground agencies had been arrested for “promoting vulgarity”, according to the semi-official Iranian news service Fars.

Rob Holley writes in Independent that this year’s Eurovision, held in Israel on Saturday night was “One of the best Eurovision Song Contests in recent memory.” Holley said: “This feels like a watershed moment for Eurovision. Every single one of those performances was exceptional, and every single song will chart across the continent.” He adds: “Anyone that calls Eurovision naff or irrelevant really hasn’t been paying attention tonight. The quality of the songs is now consistently high across the board, so much so that an cameo from Madonna actually felt like a needless bump in proceedings.” The Guardian reports on the displays of Palestinian flags at the event. It reports that the Israeli culture minister, Miri Regev, has criticised the display of Palestinian flags during the Eurovision song contest final in Tel Aviv on Saturday night, including by one of Madonna’s dancers. Separately, the Icelandic group Hatari displayed scarfs with Palestinian flags when the results were being announced.

All the Israeli media report the death of four construction workers in a crane accident in Yavne.  Maariv claims they were “working in a death trap”.  Haaretz reports that eleven people are being investigated following the tragedy. Yediot Ahronoth says: “Construction site accidents don’t happen, they’re caused. They’re caused by the fatal Israeli combination of disregarding the law when the law is not imposed; a race to the bottom in production costs, even at the cost of risking human life; toothless and powerless governmental regulation; and warped public priorities… Approximately 60 workers have been killed in the construction sector in the past 18 months, and the government is preoccupied with passing laws for a sweeping increase in the number of ministers. That is the coalition’s top priority now. Between cheap populism and cheap politics, it has no room left for dealing with the reason for the accidents. Human life doesn’t matter to them. Portfolios do.”

All the papers report that yesterday the cabinet voted unanimously in favour of a bill to repeal the limit on the number of ministers and deputy ministers in the next Government. The bill will be brought to the Knesset for a first vote today. It is believed that the number of ministers in the next government will rise to 26, and there will be 8  deputy ministers. It is estimated that this will cost approximately half a billion shekels over a four-year term.  Yediot Ahronoth notes MK Yair Lapid from Blue and White called the cabinet resolution “corruption” and said that “the first item on the government’s agenda today is repealing the limit on the number of ministers and deputy ministers. That’s their most urgent thing. Just their cushy jobs, just their honorary roles, just their political bribery in exchange for Netanyahu’s get-out-of-jail-free card. Political bribery at the public’s expense.” Meretz leader Tamar Zandberg said: “The attempt to change a basic law solely for the purpose of selling the hit that Netanyahu is planning is another preview of what the next government has in store for us…Netanyahu will give anything in exchange for immunity, and any law can be changed and subordinated. I call on members of the coalition in formation—don’t let Netanyahu change basic laws for personal whims.”

Yediot Ahronoth reports that senior Likud officials said the party has not ruled out the possibility of declaring the coalition negotiations deadlocked and holding a new election. Ever since Netanyahu received a mandate to form a government with a final extension of 14 days, there has been effectively no progress in the coalition negotiations, and the Likud has not yet signed an agreement with a single party. The paper quotes Netanyahu at yesterday’s cabinet meeting saying:  “Unfortunately, parties are still in the treetops. I hope that the way to bring them down to the ground of reality will be found soon so that we can form a strong and stable government together.”  Rabbi Haim Druckman, one of the leading religious Zionist rabbis said in an interview to Army Radio that: “Unless Netanyahu gives the justice and education portfolios to the Union of Right-Wing Parties, there won’t be a government. What is this? Parties with four seats can get the Finance Ministry and the Jewish Home gets nothing? Even if they offer us the public security portfolio, we won’t join.”

Maariv reports Likud MK Gideon Saar was fiercely criticised by right wing activists on social media for publicly expressing opposition to the immunity law. Saar said that the threats would not frighten him. “This is one example among many of the raging incitement on social media. Incitement, intimidation and threats will not work.” Former minister and Likud MK Benny Begin yesterday criticised the immunity law, which would exempt Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu from having to stand trial. In an interview to Kan Radio, he said: “I observe with sorrow how the prime minister evades justice by hiding behind immunity. Whether the law is changed or not, this is an act of corruption.”

Israel Hayom reports that the EU will investigate incitement in the Palestinian education system. They have agreed to investigate new Palestinian textbooks for content that incites hate and violence, out of concern that EU aid is being used to promote hatred.  The announcement follows an investigation and campaign by IMPACT-se (Institute for Monitoring Peace and Cultural Tolerance in School Education). They found that the new Palestinian textbooks, released in September 2018, are even more radical than previous editions, with hundreds of examples of extremism encouraging Jihad, violence, demonisation and incitement against Israel and Jews.  The hateful content was found to be methodical and appeared in all subjects including mathematics, physics, biology, etc. One book for first graders features an image of a child smiling alongside “apostates” burning in hell.  The EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Federica Mogherini confirmed that the EU will carry out an academic study of Palestinian learning materials and that funds were allocated for that purpose in the 2019 budget. The scrutiny is to be conducted by an independent, internationally respected research institution.  The purpose of the investigation is to “identify possible incitement to hate and violence and non-compliance with UNESCO standards regarding peace and tolerance in education,” Mogherini said. “Incitement to violence is incompatible with the promotion of the two-state solution, and greatly exacerbates the lack of trust between the communities.” Ynet also noted that, “In March, Britain announced its participation in the EU research effort. In January, the British parliament passed legislation preventing tax money from being used to promote hate. The German government also announced last December that it would launch an independent investigation into the contents of the new Palestinian textbooks.”