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
Iran Seeks to Retain Influence In Palestinian Affairs Iran is not giving up on its ties with Hamas, but is looking for alternatives to maintain its leverage in Palestinian affairs, writes Adnan Abu Amer. Palestine
Iraqi Government Warns Kurdistan Region Against 'Smuggling' Oil The ongoing dispute over oil between the central Iraqi government in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Regional Government in Erbil has intensified, writes Omar al-Shaher. Iraq
Ghazi Hamad: Hamas Agrees To Accept State Within '67 Borders In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor, the deputy foreign minister of the Hamas government, Ghazi Hamad, explains the far-reaching change in attitudes under way in his movement and the unchanged approach of not recognizing Israel. Palestine
Exclusive: Al-Zahar, Meshaal's Rival, Out of Hamas Leadership Shlomi Eldar has learned that Mahmoud al-Zahar, a rival of Khaled Meshaal, has been removed from the Hamas political bureau. Palestine
Gaza’s Poets Despite lack of support from official sources, poets manage to get by in Gaza, writes Asmaa al-Ghoul. Palestine
KRG Minister: Our Problem With Baghdad Lies in the Budget The Kurdistan Regional Government’s reconstruction minister talks about the ministry’s plans to revitalize the housing sector and notes that the region’s problems with Baghdad center on budget allocations, writes Abdel Hamid Zebari. Iraq
Israel's Natural Gas Brings Opportunity, Choices With natural gas flowing to Israel from the bottom of the sea, the energy revolution is happening while the government delays crucial decisions, writes Idan Grinbaum. Israel
Is There Method to Madness Of Nuclear Threats? Akiva Eldar wonders if there is a rational strategy behind the Iranian and Korean "mad leader" images. Israel
Yair Lapid: Israel's Minister For Facebook Affairs Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid is busy writing amusing feuilletons on his Facebook page, writes Mazal Mualem, revealing his lack of understanding of the true needs of the country's middle class. Israel
Egypt and Hamas Try to Resolve Differences Relations between Hamas and Egypt are far from perfect, writes Omar Shaban. Palestine
Hamas Re-Elects Meshaal For a Fourth Term Hamas has re-elected Khaled Meshaal to head the movement for a fourth term, writes Hazem Balousha. Palestine
Turkey Seeks Ottoman Sphere Of Influence Normalization of ties with the Kurds and Israel are part of a broader strategy for an Ottoman sphere of influence and confrontation with the "Shiite axis," writes Kadri Gursel. Turkey
