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
Nasrallah Calls for Muslim Solidarity In Quds Day Speech Celebrating Quds Day at a particularly polarized moment in the Arab world, Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah reminds his Sunni counterparts of the need for solidarity with the Palestinians. Lebanon
Ultra-Orthodox Shas Party Flourishes in Opposition The chairman of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, Aryeh Deri, is working closely with left-wing and Arab parties, creating an unexpected but efficient opposition. Israel
Syrian Rebel Forces Set Sights on Latakia Al-Qaeda and affiliated jihadist groups have reportedly taken the lead in an offensive on Syrian Alawite villages. Syria
Netanyahu Must Prepare Israelis for Peace If the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations yield an agreement, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must harness all his powers of persuasion to win the support of the Israeli public. Palestine
Turkey’s Tentative Iranian Spring Although Iran is not expected to change its Syria policy, working with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani may help ease regional tensions. Turkey
Rouhani’s Cautious Pick For Defense Minister Iran’s new defense minister is a sign of President Hassan Rouhani’s interest in balancing moderate and conservative forces. Iran
Another Byzantine Church Becomes Mosque in Turkey The recent conversion of a Byzantine church in Trabzon from a museum to a mosque is prompting worries that Hagia Sophia in Istanbul might be next. Turkey
Confidence-Building Measures Needed For Israel-Palestine Talks Using "peace gestures" as bargaining chips only demonstrates that neither side is truly interested in peace. Palestine
Gazans Use Satire to Bypass Political Censorship To circumvent censorship, political critics have turned to satirical literature to express displeasure with local governance. Palestine
A Thorough Reassessment Of US Policy Is Required The United States needs to reassess its policy after Israeli moves to continue settlement activities threaten to derail the negotiation process. Palestine
How Turks Misinterpret Ergenekon Following the verdicts of Turkey's Ergenekon case, are Turks having the right kinds of discussions? Turkey
Iran’s New President Side Steps Questions About Talks With US Iranian President Hassan Rouhani treads carefully in answers to questions about US-Iran relations in his first press conference. Iran
