Image caption, The conflict in Gaza dominates the front pages. The i reports on the news that two elderly female hostages have been released from Hamas custody and says the US is thought to have advised Israel to delay launching its ground invasion of Gaza to allow more time for negotiations about the other people still being held.
Image caption, The Guardian says Gaza has been “hit by one of the deadliest nights of Israeli bombing so far” and that, according to Hamas officials, at least 400 Palestinians were killed on Monday. It says “entire residential blocks across the strip have been levelled”, including in areas where people had been told to seek refuge, and carries a picture of a young woman holding her infant child in the aftermath of an air strike.
Image caption, France and other EU states have set up a “clash” with Britain and the US after calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, according to the Daily Telegraph. The paper quotes French Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne calling for a “humanitarian truce” and says the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, has argued that a halt to bombing would allow more time to negotiate with Hamas for the release of hostages. By contrast, it reports, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said it would be “difficult” to push for a ceasefire while Israel is still facing regular rocket attacks, while US President Joe Biden has said all hostages need to be released before negotiations can begin.
Image caption, The Daily Mail reports on “horrific” video screened by Israel on Monday that it says “proved the true barbarism of the Hamas terror attacks”. The paper says the images, downloaded from the bodycams and smartphones of the militants, were too graphic to publish but were shown to journalists in Tel Aviv, and that “several viewers were brought to tears”. It adds that some accounts of the attacks have been “subject to loud denials around the world” and quotes the Israeli government saying it released the footage to challenge the “Holocaust deniers of 2023”.
Image caption, The prime minister has criticised the Metropolitan Police for not stopping people at pro-Palestine marches in London from chanting for “jihad”, according to the Daily Express. The paper says Mr Sunak has told police to tackle such behaviour “head on” and dismissed claims that they did not have the powers needed to do so.
Image caption, The Times says Mr Sunak has declared that the chants are a “threat to British democracy”, but also quotes Met Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley saying current legislation on extremism is insufficient and that his officers cannot “enforce taste and decency”. The paper says the prime minister has appeared to accept that the law may need clarifying and that ministers, prosecutors and police are working on “urgent plans to ensure that protesters who use extremist language at rallies are arrested”.
Image caption, Some of the families whose homes have been flooded by Storm Babet “feel abandoned”, according to the Daily Mirror. The front page features a picture of a number of cars on a residential street submerged by water and a quote from a mum in South Yorkshire who says: “Nobody is helping us”.
Image caption, A coroner has found that a catalogue of 51 failures by probation staff contributed to a man’s murder of his partner and three children at a sleepover, according to the Metro. The paper says Damian Bendall killed Terri Harris, 35, her children Lacey, 11, and John Paul, 13, and Lacey’s friend, Connie Gent, 11, at Ms Harris’s home in September 2021. It says no safeguarding checks were carried out before Bendall was placed under curfew at the house despite the fact he had a “history of serious and violent” offences.
Image caption, The Financial Times reports that US energy giant Chevron has agreed to buy oil and gas producer Hess in a $53bn deal. The paper says the move will give Chevron “a foothold in Guyana, home to the biggest oil discovery of the past decade” and that it shows the company is “doubling down on its bet that demand for fossil fuels will remain robust for decades to come”.
Image caption, And the Daily Star says researchers have found mice surviving in ultra-thin air at the top of a volcano in Chile. The paper says that if the rodents can live in such an inhospitable environment then “they can live anywhere” and asks whether the discovery means there could be “mice on Mars”.