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
Islamic State moves to capture another Turkish border crossing The Islamic State is attacking Kobani canton, or Ain al-Arab, in an attempt to encircle the Kurdish autonomous region in Syria and capture a third crossing to Turkey. Iraq
American athletes get star treatment in Iran Sports diplomacy is on the rise again between the United States and Iran, spearheaded by American wrestlers. Iran
Israeli strike hits media vehicle, kills driver A first-hand account of the Israeli airstrike that killed Hamid Shehab, the driver of a media vehicle. Palestine
Turkey faces threat from returning jihadists Having lost the proxy war it waged against Syria, Turkey now faces a potential threat to its own peace and stability by Turkish jihadists returning from Syria. Iraq
Hamas readies for Israeli ground offensive with tunnels, traps Hamas has developed a sophisticated network of tunnels in the Gaza Strip in the event of an Israeli ground invasion. Near East
Fallujah key to defeating Islamic State The residents of Fallujah are not pledging allegiance to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi but could be a part of the resistance to IS. Iraq
Push for Kurdish independence divides Iraqi Kurds Kurdistan Regional Government President Massoud Barzani's call for independence from Iraq has drawn criticism from Iraqi Kurdish politicians who fear a Kurdish state would become a Turkish vassal state. Iraq
Aleppans set up money transfer offices within the city The division of Aleppo has separated families and made transferring money from east to west near impossible, prompting locals to take matters into their own hands. Syria
Lebanon: The summer when everything went wrong Political, constitutional, livelihood and weather problems are happening simultaneously in Lebanon. Iraq
Hamas surprises Israel Western analysts misjudged the actions of a desperate Hamas, which considers honor and face-saving above all, launching an attack against Israel when it has nothing to lose. Palestine
Women, children killed in Gaza as death toll rises Israeli strikes on Gaza have targeted residential homes, killing numerous women and children. Palestine
Gaza hospitals ill-equipped for Israeli onslaught Gaza’s hospitals are lacking essential medicines to deal with the anticipated spike in casualties from Israel’s airstrikes on Gaza. Palestine
