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 Islamic State has no sympathy for Hamas The Islamic State does not regard fighting Israel as legitimate and calls instead for first "purifying" the Islamic world, including challenging Hamas. Palestine
Muslim Brotherhood's media machinations Although the Muslim Brotherhood complains of media bias favoring Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, their own media apparatus under President Mohammed Morsi was no better. Egypt
Lebanon’s Christians react to crisis in Mosul The Lebanese Foreign Ministry has taken up the cause of the uprooted Christians of Iraq, calling on international organizations to intervene. Iraq
Kerry: Opportunity for Iran diplomacy cracking open While Kerry has not announced plans to join the P5+1 Iran Nuclear talks, there are hints he might do so despite his aides advising against it. Iran
To destroy Hamas, Israel should support opposition in Gaza Some in Gaza would like to initiate a popular revolt, as happened in neighboring Egypt, but they can't make it happen without outside support. Palestine
Iranians, irked by Netanyahu comment, tweet photos of their jeans Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offended many young Iranians by falsely saying in an interview that the citizens of the Islamic Republic were not free to wear jeans or listen to western music. Israel
Islamic State works to win hearts, minds with bread The Islamic State is investing heavily in social services in a bid to legitimize and consolidate its rule. Syria
Iran's supreme leader calls on Muslim world to arm Gaza Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has asked Muslim countries to ignore calls by the West to disarm Gaza. Palestine
Indyk staffs up to intensify Israeli Palestinian peace push US Middle East peace envoy Martin Indyk has said that the commonly shared goal of the peace talks is a 'final status agreement, not an interim agreement.' Palestine
Negotiators beat back disinfo ahead of Iran nuclear talks Ahead of the next round of P5+1 talks, US officials have denied claims that there is a secret nuclear agreement between the US and Iran and that the US has seen an Iranian proposal. Iran
Will Iran go big in Geneva? The six world powers expect Iran to present a more practical nuclear proposal, but Iran has urged the media and others not to speculate. Iran
