The Takeaway: Would Hamas complicate US plans for reset with Palestinians? Also: the back story on the spat between Israel and Jordan; Gulf post-COVID economic trends; Turkey’s Kurds; Egypt and Somalia; and more! Originals
Egypt sentences activist Sanaa Seif to 18 months in prison Seif, who had been in pretrial detention since June, was convicted Wednesday of spreading false news and misusing social media. Egypt
Ukraine rejects Iran's final report on downed passenger plane The Iranian government said last year's shooting down of Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 was the result of a human error. Iran
Palestinians receive first batch of vaccines through COVAX More than 60,000 doses of the AstraZeneca and Pfizer/BioNTech vaccines arrived in Ramallah on Wednesday. Palestine
New program draws Egyptian women to tech An Egyptian tech school is looking to increase the representation of women in the tech industry with a new programming class exclusively for women. Egypt
Gaza radio station gives a voice to refugees, women In its first month on the air, Hawwa radio station based in Nuseirat refugee camp has tackled issues prominent in Gaza refugee camps and aims to encourage women to stand up for themselves. Palestine
Old fears rise again about Palestinians in Iraq Sentiment against Palestinians is taking hold in Iraq, where some are being accused of supporting the Islamic State's extreme ideology. Palestine
Israel's defense minister in crosshairs The resignation of Israel’s coordinator on captive and missing soldiers suggests that Israel has stopped negotiating with Hamas for a prisoner exchange deal. Palestine
Netanyahu in tight spot amid Hamas prisoner swap debate Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman said that Israel must not “repeat the mistakes made with the Shalit deal," namely releasing hundreds of Hamas operatives in the framework of a prisoner-exchange deal. Palestine
Supporters scramble to distract Turkey from Erdogan's unpopular decisions Journalists and trolls who support the rule of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan often help him by distracting the public from any questionable decisions he makes with perennially rabble-rousing but vague scandals. Turkey
Plans to revive Lebanon’s ghost railways gather steam While some of Lebanon's train stations have been transformed into night clubs or tourist sites, the country's railway system could be revived at the end of the Syrian civil war to provide supplies to cities such as Homs and Damascus. Lebanon
Moscow, Cairo discuss boosting ties Representatives of Russia and Egypt seemed pleased with the outcome of their meetings this week, as they touched base on current regional developments and talked through their perspectives. Qatar
What Iran-Qatar reset means for Syria Iran adds another “Sunni” power to its regional network; Turkey ponders next moves in Idlib; Israel presents the “big picture” on Iran in Washington and Sochi, Russia; Akiva Eldar on Israel’s silence over Charlottesville. Saudi Arabia
Local Iraqi forces testing IS defenses in Anbar US-trained, local tribal fighters are preparing to cleanse Iraq's Anbar province of the Islamic State. Iraq
Reality disrupts Turkey's dream-team triad Iran and Iraq show no inclination to join Turkey's potential operations against the Kurdistan Workers Party. Iraq
New initiative brings Quran to Gaza's hearing-impaired The Future Society for Deaf Adults in the Gaza Strip is offering religious courses for the deaf and hearing-impaired, teaching them the Quran for the first time. Palestine
