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
The Ankara Bomber: A Pro-Assad Communist Mustafa Akyol profiles Ecevit Şanlı and the outlawed People's Revolutionary Liberation Army-Front (DHKP-C), one of Turkey's infamous Marxist-Leninist terror organizations, responsible for the suicide bombing at the US Embassy in Ankara on Feb. 1. Turkey
Syrian Jihadist Groups Take Conflict To Lebanon Friday’s deadly clash in Arsal, Lebanon, signals a dangerous escalation in confrontations between the Lebanese Army and Sunni Jihadist groups connected to those fighting in Syria, writes Jean Aziz from Beirut. Lebanon
Economy Trumps Palestinian Issue In Israel Nassif Hitti writes that addressing the Palestinian question would help tackle the economic concerns that dominated Israel's elections. Israel
Syria Considers Taking Up Dialogue With Opposition Syrian official sources are considering taking up the offer for talks with opposition leader Moaz al-Khatib, head of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, Antoun Issa reports from Damascus. Syria
Turkey: No Country for Journalists Semih Idiz writes that the Turkish government needs a sense of urgency to address the lack of press freedom. Turkey
Terrorist Attack at USEmbassy in Turkey Tulin Daloglu reports from the scene of a suicide bombing at the US Embassy in Ankara. Turkey
Divisions Increase Among Palestinian Factions in Syria Rifts in Fatah al-Intifada have emerged as support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime ebbs and flows throughout various Palestinian refugee groups in Syria and Lebanon, writes Mohammad Harfoush. Palestine
North African Oil and Gas Sites On High Alert The terrorist attack against oil and gas workers in Algeria two weeks ago has caused the region to step up security measures and cooperation, reports Kaci Racelma. North Africa
Straight Talk Needed From Hamas About Israel For Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal, there is no contradiction between attempting to reach a political agreement and the vision of Greater Palestine, writes Shlomi Eldar. Palestine
The Return of the Jordan Option for Palestine? Adnan Abu Amer surveys some of the latest "outside the box" thinking on a territorial solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Palestine
Iraqi Housing Initiative Fails to Deliver Iraqi investment authorities have misstepped with the country’s largest residential housing project as they attempt to solve the country’s housing crisis, writes Omar al-Shaher. Iraq
Islamization in Gaza Erodes Women's Rights Increasing Islamization in the Gaza Strip is eroding the rights of women, the latest sign of which is a new regulation at Al Aqsa University requiring all women to dress with “modesty,” writes Asmaa al-Ghoul. Palestine
