Newspaper headlines: Aid 'too little too late' and Israeli soldiers told to 'annihilate Hamas'

1px transparent line
By BBC News
Staff
EPA

According to the Saudi Royal Palace, Rishi Sunak and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman discussed the military escalation in Gaza and the international efforts being made in that regard

The Daily Mail says that Israel's ground assault on Gaza could be imminent. It highlights the Israeli defence minister's briefing to combat troops massed on the border with the Palestinian enclave that they would see inside it soon. The paper said Yoav Gallant had "banged the drum of war" with his words to the soldiers. The Daily Telegraph says diplomats have suggested that now that high-profile delegations - from Britain and America - have left Israel, it could now feel free to move into Gaza. The paper also reports that the US has issued a rare worldwide terror alert, urging its citizens to be cautious, as anti-Israeli and anti-western protests spread across the Arab world.

In the Name of God, Save the Children is the headline in the Daily Express, referring to a call by aid charities for an immediate ceasefire in the Hamas-Israel conflict. It quotes rescue workers who fear up to 600 infants could be buried under rubble in Gaza. The health ministry is reported as saying it believes there are survivors under destroyed houses, but constant Israeli airstrikes make it hard to reach them. The paper says a convoy bringing emergency supplies could enter the enclave today, from the Egyptian crossing at Rafeh, but that aid agencies insist only a proper ceasefire would allow them to establish safe routes by which to deliver enough food water and medicines.

According to the Guardian, aid agencies have warned that the aid due to arrive in Gaza today may be "too little too late". They're quoted as saying that delays, in allowing the small convoy of lorries in, have almost certainly cost lives of Palestinians. The World Health Organization says aid now needs to be coming in every day.

The Financial Times focuses on rising tensions on Israel's northern border. It says the US, Britain and Germany have all urged their citizens to leave Lebanon. Shelling between northern Israel and southern Lebanon - a stronghold of the Iranian-backed Hezbollah - is rising, increasing fears of a conflict wider than just between Israel and Hamas. The paper says that British embassy advice to its citizens in Lebanon is that the situation could deteriorate quickly and with no warning.

The Times leads on Rishi Sunak's visit to Riyadh, and his direct appeal to the Crown Prince to use his leadership in the region to ensure stability. The paper says Britain's role as an "interlocutor" with Saudi Arabia is significant, given the deterioration of the desert kingdom's relationship with the US in the wake of the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi.

The Daily Mirror's front page is dominated by the Covid Inquiry, with the headline "Reckless and Callous". The paper says this is what some victims' families felt about Rishi Sunak's Eat Out to Help Out scheme after the inquiry was told there had been no scientific consultation before it was implemented. One woman, whose mother died of the disease in 2021, told the paper she thought the scheme might have contributed to thousands of deaths.