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
Gazans in West Bank fear for their loved ones Roughly 15,000 Gazans live in Ramallah and are gripped with fear each time Israel strikes civilian targets in the Gaza Strip. Palestine
The delusion of Hamas' military wing Unlike Hamas’ political wing, its military wing is convinced that a group of suicide bombers can "overpower Israel." Palestine
Israel's tourism industry declines while tech sector surges While hotels, factories and small businesses in Israel are suffering in the current round of fighting, the Israeli "startup nation" is still flourishing. Israel
Rocket launches embarrass Hezbollah, Lebanon The successive rockets launched from Lebanon toward Israel require a response from both the Lebanese government and Hezbollah. Israel
Israeli jurist says killing civilians not always a war crime On the backdrop of Operation Protective Edge, former Shin Bet legal adviser Eli Bahar outlines the legal concepts involved in warfare and the boundaries of permissible IDF actions in Gaza according to international law. Palestine
Turkey makes strides on deficit reduction Turkey’s current account deficit, a long-standing economic hardship, has dropped to $52.5 billion, already beating the government's year-end target. Turkey
Did Iran train Gaza rocket makers? While Iran was unable to smuggle rockets in, sources claim Tehran instead trained Gaza Strip groups to make their own. Palestine
Domestic violence increases among Syrian refugees The stresses of the war and lack of income are resulting in more cases of domestic violence among Syrian refugees in Jordan. Jordan
Meshaal speaks out on possible cease-fire In an interview with Al-Monitor, Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal urged the United States to take a more balanced approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and criticized Egypt’s hard-line stance toward his movement. Egypt
'A Separation' director criticized in Iran for Gaza Facebook post A widely-shared photo of Iranian director Asghar Farhadi and a human rights lawyer posing with a banner simply condemning “killing” in Gaza has caused controversy in Iran. Palestine
Lawmakers: Kerry floats new sanctions on Iran The secretary of state has told lawmakers that passing triggered sanctions could help get a nuclear deal. Iran
With little help from Iran, Hamas fights Israel with homemade rockets Hamas’ rockets are locally produced and lacking a qualitative edge due to Iran’s decision to cut military support to the Islamist movement. Palestine
