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
Israeli Volunteers Invite Palestinian Children to Beach Israeli women accompany Palestinian children and their mothers to Tel Aviv on a trip that for most is their first visit to the beach. Palestine
Israel-Palestine Peace Depends On International Involvement Israel's insistence on keeping the United States and other world powers out of the negotiating room will only result in the failure of current talks with the Palestinians. Palestine
Hamas Accused of Targeting Fatah Activists in Gaza Palestinian rights groups have called on Hamas to cease harassing Fatah members, after several were detained in Gaza in recent weeks. Palestine
Erdogan’s Blaming of Israel Might be Funny If It Weren’t So Sad Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel of being behind the Egyptian military coup only to be met with strong criticism from Egypt, Israel and the United States. Egypt
Tensions Mount Between Iraqi Government, Najaf Though influential, Iraqi politicians claim Najaf religious scholars have no right to influence the state of affairs in the country. Iraq
Hezbollah-Hamas Relationship Strained News reports suggest that Hezbollah's relationship with Hamas is under more pressure than ever, which is good news for Israel. Israel
Palestinian Bank Pioneers Sign-Language Banking Gaza's Palestine Islamic Bank is the first Palestinian retail bank to launch sign-language services. Palestine
Gaza Salafist Leader Calls For Jihad Against Egyptian General Head of the Salafist Jaysh al-Umma militant group in Gaza has called on Muslims to "stop the bloodshed by the tyrant Sisi." Palestine
Turkish-Israeli Military Ties Damaged by Ergenekon Trial The Ergenekon trial has made it clear to the decision-makers in Jerusalem that the Turkish army will no longer be able to serve as a bridge between the two countries. Israel
Lebanon Caught in Middle Of Iranian-Saudi 'Cold War' Lebanon’s unique position in the Arab Levant means it has been inevitably caught up in the back and forth of Iran and Saudi Arabia’s proxy war in the region. Saudi Arabia
Knesset Member Wants Fellow Arab-Israeli MPs to Get in the Game Arab Israeli Knesset member Issawi Frej explains the backstory of his joining a left-wing Zionist political party. Israel
Who Poisoned Former Turkish President Ozal? Political disputes between the Kemalist army and democratically elected political parties once were settled heavy-handedly, and a recent investigation into Turgut Ozal's death ruled that he was poisoned. Turkey
