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
Gaza's Omari Mosque Embodies City's Ancient History Gaza's Omari Mosque has been a place of worship for thousands of years, beginning as a pagan temple. Palestine
US Treasury Tries to Boost Medical Sales to Iran The US government says it will increase humanitarian trade with Iran, but sanctions lawyers say the measures are not enough and still require authorized channels between US and Iran banks. Iran
Erdogan’s New Chief Adviser is No Joke Prime Minister Erdogan's appointment of Yigit Bulut to focus on the transition to a presidential system has generated controversy and criticism. Turkey
Activist's Detention Possible Turning Point for Kuwaiti Women The sentence of political activist Sara Aldrees highlights growing female involvement in Kuwaiti politics. Legacy: Gulf
European Court Presses Erdogan on Free Speech A landmark ruling by the European Court of Human Rights is putting pressure on Turkey’s prime minister to abandon his many libel cases against journalists. Turkey
Iran’s Civil Society Movement Against Sanctions The government of Iran might soon be grappling with how to manage a popular mobilization against US and international sanctions. Iran
Palestinians Still Buying Israeli Settlement Goods While international efforts increase against Israeli settlement goods, many Palestinians in the West Bank are failing to heed the boycott call. Palestine
Does Hezbollah Seek Cold Peace With EU? Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is working to contain the fallout from the EU decision. Lebanon
Yemen’s New Government Retains Bad Old Habits The faces of Yemen’s executive cabinet may have changed, but the same inefficiencies and failures reminiscent of the old government still haunt the country. Yemen
How Hamas Uses Mosques To Garner Support Controlling local mosques has long been a Hamas strategy to ensure a large support base. Palestine
Netanyahu Blesses and Curses Europe's Role in the Middle East Decisions by the European Union have the Netanyahu government criticizing it for intervening with sanctions in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, while praising it for blacklisting Hezbollah. Israel
Lapid Criticizes Idle Ultra-Orthodox For Hurting Israeli Economy The absence of the ultra-Orthodox from Israel's job market is a real threat to the state, but the aggressive attempts by Finance Minister Yair Lapid to solve the wrong problem will have the opposite effect. Israel
