ReutersThe latest on the Israeli hostages in Gaza and revelations from the Covid inquiry lead Tuesday’s front pages.
The Times says Foreign Office civil servants wanted to exclude Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, from this week’s summit on artificial intelligence in Bletchley Park. The paper says the officials believed that after the start of the Israeli ground offensive in Gaza, his address – via a video link – could be a distraction. However, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and Science and Technology Secretary Michelle Donelan were angered by the advice and rejected it, the paper says.
The Israeli soldier, Ori Megidish, who has been reunited with her family after being held captive by Hamas for three weeks, features on several front pages.
“Pawns of the terrorists” is the Daily Mail’s front-page headline. The paper describes as “vile” the video released by Hamas, in which three Israeli women, held in Gaza, urge Mr Netanyahu to secure their release by freeing Palestinian prisoners.
The i newspaper says doctors in Gaza are having to amputate patients’ limbs – even when it should not be necessary – because they don’t have the resources to treat their injuries. The head of Al Quds hospital in Gaza City, Bashar Murad, told the paper that doctors now treated only those who had a chance to survive.
Several papers report that the entrepreneur Elon Musk will attend the PM’s summit on artificial intelligence. The Mail says that’s a significant scoop for Rishi Sunak after several world leaders turned down an invitation.
The Daily Mirror leads on what it calls the “explosive” WhatsApp messages released to the Covid inquiry. In one of them the Cabinet secretary accuses Boris Johnson of making the government look like a “tragic joke”. “If you thought the government was incompetent and dishonest during the pandemic,” says the paper, “turns out you were right”.
