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
Twelve Major Consequences Of Sanctions on Iran Seyed Hossein Mousavian reviews the futility of the US sanctions policy to affect Iran’s nuclear program or change its relationship with Iran for the better. Iran
Turkey's Liberal Divide Mustafa Akyol analyzes the state of the left in Turkey and the issues that divide it. Turkey
World Press Freedom DayPuts Turkey in Spotlight The US Department of State's annual human rights report refers to the limitations on freedom of the press in Turkey, writes Yavuz Baydar. Turkey
UN Forces on Israel’s Borders Confront Uncertain Future Geoffrey Aronson writes from Cairo that while Egypt and Israel appear to be weathering the storm, for now, not so for Israel and Syria, with implications for UN forces tasked with keeping the peace. Egypt
No Incentive for Turkey, Armenia To Normalize Relations The Armenian genocide issue will not play a role in the normalizing of Armenia-Turkey relations, Cengiz Candar writes. Turkey
Exclusive: Hamas' Meshaal Says Latest US Peace Efforts 'Will Fail' In an exclusive telephone interview with Adnan Abu Amer for Al-Monitor, Khaled Meshaal, the head of Hamas's political bureau, spoke about US efforts to revive the Palestinian-Israeli peace process and more. Palestine
Israel’s Strategic Reset Israel is reconsidering its new strategic approach to the region in the context of US policies toward Iran, Syria, Egypt and Israeli-Palestinian peace, writes Ben Caspit. Egypt
Hamas Enforces Quiet Border With Israel Alon Ben David writes: That Hamas hasn’t replenished its supply of rockets lately is further proof of an ideological turnabout underway in the movement. Palestine
Muslim, Jewish, Christian Chefs Cook for Peace in Jerusalem Muslim, Jewish and Christian chefs came together to cook for regional diplomats in a recent multicultural Jerusalem dinner event in the latest project by Chefs for Peace, reports Saideh Jamshidi. Palestine
Turkey’s Trouble at the Border The longer the Syrian civil war goes on, the more Turkey is challenged by both its deteriorating border security and the Syrian refugee crisis, writes Tulin Daloglu. Turkey
All Faiths Rest in Peace At English Cemetery in Gaza In a part of the world where conflicts typically revolve around religious affiliation, soldiers of all faiths who fought in various global conflicts have found their final resting place in Gaza’s English cemetery, writes Asmaa al-Ghoul. Palestine
The Limits of Alliance in Iraq Between Kurds, Sunni Arabs Without agreement on key nationalist issues, particularly the boundaries of Iraq and the Kurdistan Region, alignments between Iraq's Kurdish and Sunni groups against the prime inister are likely to be tactical and short-lived, writes Denise Natali. Iraq
