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
IS withdrawal strategy calls for creation of local defense forces To fight the Islamic State, the Iraqi government should create Sunni local defense forces, similar to the Kurdish peshmerga forces, even though this might be at the expense of the government’s unity. Iraq
Despite reconciliation, Abbas in no position to negotiate for Hamas With Israel ignoring his efforts and Hamas trying to topple him, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas may issue a desperate ultimatum for Israel to withdraw from the West Bank. Palestine
Islamic State calls for revenge against Syria’s rebels The Islamic State alleges Syrian rebels raped and abused female relatives of IS militants when rebels ousted IS from Aleppo earlier this year, and is using that as a rallying cry for its militants as it pushes into rebel-held territory. Syria
Social media backs Turkish MP’s threat to throw her shoe A female opposition member of Turkey’s parliament takes social media by storm after threatening to throw her shoe at ruling party deputies. Turkey
War of attrition pointless in Gaza When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened Hamas with a war of attrition, he ignored that in such a war the winner is not the strongest army, but the side that has the least to lose. Palestine
Hamas wary of international push for PA return to Gaza Hamas is concerned that Egypt’s proposal facilitating the Palestinian Authority’s return to the Gaza Strip will be at the expense of the Islamist group. Palestine
Fars News proposes joint reporting by Iran, Russia The director of Fars News Agency has proposed that Iranian and Russian news organizations cooperate to combat the influence of Western media. Russia
Russia keeps eye on Islamic State Russia views the expansion of the Islamic State in Iraq as a threat to its own security, especially given the potential return home of Russian-born jihadists. Iraq
Davutoglu faces uneasy relationship with Assad Ahmet Davutoglu declared two years ago in his role as foreign minister that he would rather resign than shake Bashar al-Assad’s hand; he now has to find a way to coexist with Syria. Iraq
Israel-Palestine, a binational state in the making A formula for a binational state is de facto being implemented as undeclared policy by Israel, and the Palestinians are preparing for a binational state process. Palestine
What does the future hold for Abdullah Gul? Having been sidelined from the newly elected President Erdogan’s inner circle, Gul is resentful today, but may make a political comeback in the near future, depending on the performance of the Erdogan-Davutoglu team. Turkey
Islamic State inciting Arab-Kurdish divide in Iraq Reports of Ninevah province Arabs fighting with the Islamic State are contributing to anti-Arab sentiments among Iraqi Kurds. Syria
