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
Lebanon's Gathering Storm Over Syria As the Syrian conflict enters its second year, Lebanon's security situation is weakening as sectarian tendencies rise, signaling a coming crisis, writes Scarlett Haddad. Lebanon
Bahraini Opposition Competes For Western Support Bahrain’s opposition is working overtime to woo the West to its cause, but it would be better served forging local and regional links, Omar al-Shehabi writes. Bahrain
Iraq’s New Sunni Awakening A resurgence of Sunni identity and demonstrations against the government of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is weakening Iraqi nationalism and intensifying sectarianism, writes Harith Hasan. Iraq
Oman Curbs Corruption To Quell Dissent Oman is actively tackling corruption in response to the 2011 Omani Spring, Ahmed Ali M. al-Mukhaini writes. Oman
Israel Offers Deportation To Samer Issawi Israel has offered Samer Issawi deportation instead of release, which is a serious violation of human rights, Daoud Kuttab writes. Palestine
Golden Opportunity Awaits New Israeli Finance Minister If Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid limits himself to only one or two structural changes, the new finance minister can succeed despite his lack of experience, writes Mazal Mualem. Israel
No Military Solution for Assad Or the Rebels Secretary of State John Kerry has said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad can't "shoot his way out" of the civil war; but neither can the opposition, writes Geoffrey Aronson. Syria
Davutoglu Invokes Ottomanism As a New Order for Mideast Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu's suggestion of an Ottoman model for a new Middle East order is likely a misreading of regional politics that could prove hard for Turkey to back away from, writes Tulin Daloglu. Syria
Israel: Re-thinking Syria's Opposition Shlomi Eldar writes that a film clip showing Syrian rebels shooting into the air along the Golan border offers an ominous signal to the world, and especially to Israel. Israel
Will Netanyahu Redefine Status Quo With Ultra-Orthodox? Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has a historic opportunity to redefine the status quo between the state of Israel and the ultra-Orthodox sector, writes Nadav Perry. Israel
The Iraqi and Turkish Fault Lines The Syria war spreads to Iraq; Turkey is increasingly divided over Prime Minister Erdogan’s Syrian policies; and Secretary of State John Kerry’s trip to the region includes progress toward a political solution in Syria. Iraq
New Tunisian Government Faces Old Challenges A new, more technocratic Tunisian government, expected to be approved March 12, will face a crippling economic crisis and an even more fractious political environment since the murder of opposition politician Chokri Belaid on Feb. 6, writes Mishca Benoit-Lavelle from Tunis. Originals
