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
Maliki Launches Counterattack Against Opponents Iraq’s top court overturned a law that would have prevented standing Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki from running for a third term of office. Iraq
Israelis Note: Obama's Decision On Syria Is From Strength President Barack Obama's decision to seek authorization from the US Congress for a possible missile strike on Syria is a sign of strong moral values, not weakness. Israel
Can Syrian Chemical Weapons Issue Lead to US-Iran Opening? Al-Monitor’s analysis and coverage of a possible US military strike on Syria. Lebanon
How Will Hezbollah Respond To a Western Strike on Syria? As the world awaits an expected Western military strike on Syria, Hezbollah's reaction will depend on the details of this possible strike and is based on regional concerns. Israel
Israel's Routine: Movies, Video Games And Gas Masks Israelis bear in their collective memory the sounds of sirens announcing the fall of a rocket, fearing a missile with a chemical warhead. Israel
Is Turkey-PKK Peace Process At a Dead End? The Sept. 1 deadline for the second stage in the Kurdish peace process is about to expire, without progress. Turkey
Israel Prepares for Syria Strike As Israel stations an Iron Dome anti-missile battery in Tel Aviv, Israelis fear missile attacks on their major cities and wonder: Will Israel be prepared? Palestine
Syria Provides Opening for Closer Obama-Netanyahu Ties The expected US strike presents an opportunity for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to rebuild his relations with President Barack Obama — an imperative when dealing with the Iranian threat. Israel
Israel Waits on Syria Strike, Focuses on Iran The prolonged American debates over whether to strike Syria have weakened its deterrence, rendering any such attack inefficient, and while all watch Damascus, the real threat lurks in Tehran. Israel
Syria Strike Would Be Disaster for Lebanon Any foreign military intervention in Syria, particularly a direct strike by NATO forces, will have dire consequences for the already fragile environment in Lebanon. Lebanon
UAE Investment Casualty Of Turkey’s Egypt Policy Foreign policy decisions are negatively affecting Turkey’s exports and attraction of foreign investment. Turkey
Turkey Frustrated Over Syria Western aims in Syria are proving to be at odds with the Turkish government’s expectations. Syria
