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 Syrian refugee problem spirals out of control Syrian refugees in Turkey are regularly subject to hostilities by locals, a trend Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan implies the opposition is responsible for. Syria
Najaf, Qom take different approaches in Iraq The two religious authorities Najaf and Qom have divergent views on Iraq's political affairs, with Mahmoud Hashemi Shahroudi — the religious authority in Qom — identifying various actors in the Iraqi crisis, praising Shiite militias and accusing Sunni politicians. Iraq
Iran boosts Hamas rocket capacity Congress is skeptical of extending of Iran talks; Iran has a hand in Gaza; acrimony between Egypt and Hamas is hindering a cease-fire agreement; and the Islamic State using the Turkish Consulate in Mosul as its headquarters. Palestine
Knesset debates whether Gaza disengagement helped Hamas During the Knesset debate marking the ninth anniversary of Israel's disengagement from Gaza, conservative politicians claimed that the current Hamas attacks would not have taken place had Ariel Sharon not pulled out of the Gaza Strip. Palestine
Gaza on alert for Israeli spies Two suspected spies for Israel have been murdered in Gaza since the outbreak of war as locals are on the lookout for suspicious behavior. Palestine
Israeli Cabinet members blame US for failed cease-fire Backed by Qatar and Turkey and facing American hesitance, Hamas refused the Egyptian-brokered cease-fire, forcing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to begin a ground operation in Gaza to destroy the tunnel networks. Palestine
Elderly Israelis: 'I survived Hitler, Hamas doesn't scare me' Many elderly residents of the rocket-afflicted areas around Gaza react with calm and resilience to the sound of the sirens and even refuse to hurry into shelters. Israel
Jabhat al-Nusra, IS compete for foreign fighters Concerned that the Islamic State has an advantage in recruiting foreign jihadists with its declared Islamic caliphate, al-Qaeda’s official branch in Syria, Jabhat al-Nusra, has declared an Islamic emirate. Syria
Inside Egypt's cease-fire efforts Egypt's attempts to broker a cease-fire in Gaza show its commitment to regaining its regional role. Palestine
Tehran mayor says gender segregation a question of dignity The mayor of Tehran has defended plans to segregate city employees by gender, dismissing criticism in the foreign media with, “Let the BBC talk.” Iran
No escape for civilians in Gaza Al-Monitor reports from the scene of several bombings as Israel's bombardment of Gaza's civilian areas continues. Palestine
What is Hezbollah learning from Hamas? Any action taken by Hamas against Israel is likely being carefully studied by Hezbollah for future conflict purposes. Palestine
