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
Russia Confronts Mideast SalafistsBy Courting Christians, Minorities Russia is courting Middle Eastern minorities, especially Christians, in a bid to confront Salafist extremism, writes an Al-Monitor correspondent in Beirut. Israel
'Israel Has Nothing to Fear' Daniel Abraham, founder of the Center for Middle East Peace, warns Ben Caspit that without an agreement with the Palestinians, Israel will find itself with a non-Jewish majority. Palestine
Turkey's 2015 Plan: Avoid Word 'Genocide' at All Costs Turkey is preparing a diplomatic offensive to prevent the US and European countries from recognizing the events of 1915 as genocide, writes Orhan Kemal Cengiz. Turkey
Iraqi Government Bans TV Channels Over Coverage of Protest Violence The Iraqi government has banned 10 TV channels for covering the violence in Hawija, further raising political tensions in the country, writes Mushreq Abbas. Iraq
Palestinian Singer Gives Rare Concert in Gaza Palestinian singer Reem Talhami released her first album at a recent concert in Gaza, singing songs far removed from death, destruction and war, writes Hazem Balousha. Palestine
Palestinian Film 'Condom Lead' Nominated for Cannes Award Gazan brothers Arab and Tarazan Nasser’s short parody “Condom Lead” has been nominated at the Cannes Film Festival, a first for producers from the Gaza Strip, writes Asmaa al-Ghoul. Palestine
Post-Ahmadinejad Iran: A New Challenge to the West Shlomi Eldar argues that with the upcoming elections in Iran, the international community should try another, more conciliatory approach. Israel
Iran Counters Saudi Diplomacy In Lebanon The competition between the Saudi and Iranian axes in Lebanon is high as the alleged Saudi “openness” toward Hezbollah proved to be less than it appeared, writes Jean Aziz. Saudi Arabia
Erbil Sends Forces to Outskirts Of Kirkuk, Enraging Baghdad Baghdad considers the Iraqi Kurdistan Region's deployment of peshmerga to the outskirts of Kirkuk to be escalatory and provocative, writes Abdel Hamid Zebari. Iraq
Why Is Obama Giving Up On Bush's Road Map? Akiva Eldar writes that the Road Map, Annapolis Declaration, and Arab Peace Initiative should be a start for the latest round of US Middle East diplomacy. Palestine
Israel's Shas in Leadership Crisis On the eve of its 30th anniversary, the Ultra-Orthodox party Shas finds itself in the opposition and in the throes of a severe leadership crisis, writes Nadav Perry. Israel
Lebanon's Future Movement Deals With Syria Conflict Hezbollah’s involvement in the Syrian conflict has been a point of controversy within Lebanon across all sects, writes Elie Hajj. Lebanon
