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
Why Brexit makes life harder for Turkey By voting to leave the European Union, Britons not only deepened Europe’s crisis, but dealt a blow to Turkey as well. Turkey
What airport attack means for Turkey's Syria policy Until now, Ankara had sought to refocus the anger against IS on Kurdish groups, but does Tuesday’s attack mean this strategy will change? Israel
What's really driving Turkish-Israeli reconciliation? Turkey has started what looks like a sharp turn in its relations with Israel in consideration of shared security and military priorities, though it will take some time to rebuild ties to their former levels. Israel
Will Syrian Kurdish forces advance on Raqqa? The head of Rojava’s interior committee Kanaan Barakat speaks to Al-Monitor about the achievements of the autonomous administration, the potential for an advance on Raqqa and relations with the Syrian regime. Syria
Palestinians divided over PA's attendance at Israeli conference The Palestinian Authority sent an official representative to participate at Israel's Herzliya Conference on June 14-16, which raised the ire of various Palestinian factions. Palestine
Can Israeli left fight back through Facebook? A private Facebook group is quietly working to promote the positions of the political left and influence the public discourse on Israeli social media platforms, which its leaders say are misleadingly dominated by an aggressive and hateful right-wing discourse. Israel
Has Egypt lost its status as star of Arab film industry? Egyptian production companies have been struggling with growing debts, particularly as actors' salaries are increasing despite lagging revenues. Egypt
Will Iran’s notorious Evin prison ever be closed? An Iranian prison official said that a draft agreement has been prepared to turn one of Iran’s most notorious prisons into a park. Iran
Iran’s pipeline politics reaches Iraqi Kurdistan The planned construction of a pipeline connecting Iraqi Kurdistan with Iran could further cement Iran's position as the regional energy hub — and also benefit Kurds on both sides of the border. Iraq
How Erdogan became Turkey’s biggest media boss A ferocious onslaught on critical media over the past year has left President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as Turkey’s biggest media boss. Turkey
Why Hamas resumed ties with Iran In light of its worsening financial crisis and need for military support, Hamas has resumed relations with Tehran, which have been strained since the start of the Syrian revolution. Saudi Arabia
Will airport attack push Ankara to revive peace process with PKK? If Turks had any delusion of seeing IS somehow less dangerous than the PKK, then they must have been woken by the ferocious attack on the Ataturk airport. Turkey
