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
Turkey's internal Kurdish tensions flare Deep-rooted strains between secular-nationalist Kurds and Islamist Kurds may reignite in the wake of the civil war in Iraq and Syria. Turkey
Israel's new rules for social media in politics The social network revolution, combined with the 2011 social protest and increased transparency in politics, have pushed aside veteran politicians in favor of fresh senior politicians such as Yair Lapid, Naftali Bennett and, lately, Moshe Kahlon. Israel
Saudi support shores up talks in Lebanon Saudi Arabia is overwhelmed with risks on several fronts, which might explain its efforts to promote a Sunni-Shiite and a Christian-Christian dialogue in Lebanon and bring its ally Saad Hariri back to the table. Saudi Arabia
Iran mourns general killed by IS in Iraq Iranian Gen. Hamid Taghavi, killed in Iraq, played in important role in Iran's efforts in the country. Iraq
Bibi's rivals suffer scandals Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is surrounded by rivals trying to topple him, yet two of them, Shas Party leader Aryeh Deri and Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, must concentrate on their own political survival. Israel
Egypt-Qatar rapprochement rattles Hamas Hamas is concerned that the rapprochement between Egypt and Qatar will result in Doha downgrading its ties with the Palestinian Islamist movement. Qatar
Russian crisis worries Turkish businesses Hopes that Western sanctions against Moscow would benefit Turkey appear to have been premature. Turkey
Corruption lets Iraqi criminals off the hook Weak institutions and corruption mean that major crimes in Iraq are not being investigated or prosecuted. Iraq
Jerusalem's Arab bus drivers speak out Jerusalem has seemingly calmed down after several weeks of unrest, but Arab bus drivers tell Al-Monitor that they are constantly subjected to insults and attacks by extremist Jewish passengers. Israel
Netanyahu's calls to Likud too little too late While Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has personally asked Likud Party members to support more moderate candidates, he was too late to stop his party from being taken over by settlers and extreme right politicians. Israel
Syrian charities battle corruption Roughly 2,000 Damascenes participated in a marathon to raise funds for Syrian cancer patients, to make up for a significant drop in available medication due to corruption in the Syrian Health Ministry. Syria
Saudis work together to head off sectarian violence The November attack against Saudi Shiites in al-Ahsa governorate drew unanimous condemnation from conservative Sunnis and Shiites alike, who are determined to prevent sectarian strife. Legacy: Gulf
