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
Violence in Lebanon threatens religious coexistence While Lebanon has always been known as a country where Christians and Muslims coexist peacefully, recent developments show that some are trying to sow discord among Lebanese of all religions. Lebanon
Gaza’s armed factions coordinate response to Israeli attacks The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine has launched rockets into Israel over the past few days while Hamas turns a blind eye. Palestine
Turkish truckers try to get on the road again With the dangers and difficulties now inherent in transiting in Iraq and Syria, the Turkish transportation sector is looking for alternative routes to Middle Eastern markets. Legacy: Gulf
Did nostalgia for Islamic caliphate become a reality? The Islamic State has exploited ideological tendencies of Salafist jihadists to establish its "Islamic caliphate." Iraq
Lebanese Hezbollah unlikely to intervene in Iraq crisis Although some have expressed concerns that Hezbollah could intervene in Iraq to protect Shiite holy sites from Islamic State militants, a number of Lebanese politicians and sources close to Hezbollah dismiss this possibility. Iraq
Israel’s soft stance on incitement creates tragedy Hate of Israeli Arabs has reached a peak with the murder of Mohammed Abu Khdeir, 16, reflecting the tolerance of Israeli society toward words and deeds of extreme-right activists. Palestine
Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul sues for fraud The defrauding of the Armenian Patriarchate of Istanbul reflects how vulnerable minorities are in Turkey. Turkey
Iraq events cause Hezbollah to go on full alert The fall of western Iraq to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) has cut the contiguous bridge from Iran to Lebanon, and Hezbollah fears that ISIS may try to sneak through to Lebanon. Iraq
Will Palestinian unity fall victim to crisis over murders? Al-Monitor’s Israel and Palestine Pulses cover the escalating crisis over the murder of three Israeli youths and a Palestinian teenager. Palestine
Minister Shamir criticizes Netanyahu inaction on Gaza In an interview with Al-Monitor, Agriculture Minister Yair Shamir criticizes the government’s inactivity on Gaza whether militarily or diplomatically: “Hours and hours of Cabinet meetings without decisions, while the rockets from Gaza keep coming.” Palestine
Israel misreads Hamas and Palestinians' will to attack Despite Israeli assessments to the contrary, Hamas proved quite willing to step up rocket attacks, and the Palestinian street was more than ready for riot and revolt. Palestine
What should West expect from Erdogan as president? The United States and others in the West are speculating about what Turkish foreign policy might look like under President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose nomination speech left no doubt about his strong Islamic inclinations. Turkey
