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
Rouhani Says Nuclear Issue Can Be Resolved In a discussion with, among others, Al-Monitor's Andrew Parisiliti, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said the nuclear concerns can be resolved, maintaining that Iran has nothing to hide as all of its sites are under IAEA inspection. Iran
Iraq's Fallujah General Hospital caught in crossfire The hospital in Fallujah has been targeted on numerous occasions during the fighting there, says a local doctor as Human Rights Watch releases a report on the matter. Iraq
Iran's Zarif meets Kerry to 'jump start' nuclear talks Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif and US Secretary of State John Kerry met privately for 30 minutes to discuss the nuclear negotiations in the highest level meeting between the two countries in decades. Iran
Will 'lawfare' define Palestinian-Israeli conflict? In the current Gaza conflict, Israel has the military advantage over Hamas in warfare, but the Palestinians might have an edge in "lawfare." Palestine
Obama calls Iran's Rouhani US President Barack Obama and Iranian President Hassan Rouhani had a 15 minute long phone conversation during which the two leaders discussed the nuclear negotiations in the highest level contact between the two countries since 1979. Iran
Netanyahu meets Obama amid US Iran diplomatic push In a meeting between Israeli prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Obama and Vice President Biden, the US stressed diplomacy must be exhausted with Iran. Israel
Netanyahu to UN: Keep pressure on Iran Netanyahu urged the United Nations to keep economic pressure on Iran claiming that while the Islamic Republic will not cross Israel's red line, it is positioning itself to build a nuclear bomb as quickly as possible. Israel
Top US Iran negotiator: Onus is on Iran to propose nuclear plan During a senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on Iran, under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman urged law makers to hold off on new sanctions until the next round of P5+1 talks are held so the administration could determine if the Iranians were serious about a nuclear deal. Iran
Will patriarch's plan lead to new Lebanese president? Lebanon’s Maronite Patriarch Bechara al-Rai has proposed an initiative to allow a president to be elected with only an absolute majority of the vote. Lebanon
Labor Ministry opposes Tehran's proposal for gender segregation Iran's Labor Ministry has warned that the separation of the sexes in Tehran's municipal administration could provoke an international backlash. Iran
Israeli officials: United States chose Qatar over us The Israeli leadership estimates that the cease-fire initiative of US Secretary of State John Kerry responds well to the interests of Qatar, Turkey, Hamas and its own interests with Qatar — but hardly addresses Israel's security needs. Qatar
Turkey, Qatar seek foothold in Gaza talks Turkey and Qatar, having alienated regional powers with their support of Hamas, are finding it hard to gain influence in Gaza cease-fire negotiations. Qatar
