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
Hamas Releases Detained Journalists Mohammed Suliman reports on concerns for press freedom in Gaza, despite Hamas releasing four journalists detained last week. Palestine
Restoration of Iraqi Border Villages Allegedly Tied to Elections Plans to restore and repopulate Iraq’s border villages destroyed during its war with Iran have been met with accusations of electioneering from Kurdish politicians, writes Omar al-Shaher. Iraq
Iraqi Army Clashes With Protesters Spark Tribal Unrest Clashes between Sunni protesters and the Iraqi army in Fallujah in western Iraq have aggravated the demonstrations, with tribal leaders threatening retaliation, writes Ali Abel Sadah. Iraq
Israel Cannot Count on Egypt To Deal with Hamas As Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi is preoccupied with the political crisis in Egypt, Israel should take the initiative in jump-starting talks with the Palestinians, writes Shlomi Eldar. Israel
15 Things Egypt Must Do To Step Back From the Brink Bassem Sabry recommends how Egypt can de-escalate the current crisis. Egypt
Egypt Needs Dialogue Now Clovis Maksoud urges Egypt to begin a dialogue and end the political crisis. Egypt
Is the Turkish Military Getting a Fair Trial? Tulin Daloglu questions whether the Turkish military is getting fair treatment. Turkey
New Class of Palestinians Get Rich On Gaza Tunnel Trade The lucrative trade in contraband through Gaza's tunnel network has produced a new class of wealthy Palestinians, writes Omar Shaban. Palestine
Fatah Still Cannot Challenge Hamas in Gaza Despite Fatah's large rally in Gaza and discontent with Hamas rule, Fatah still is unlikely to be able to challenge Hamas in Gaza, writes Hazem Balousha. Palestine
Iraq's Problems Go Beyond Maliki Mustafa Al-Khadimi writes that the problems in Iraq are not solely caused by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, but instead reveal the shortcomings of the entire Iraqi political process. Iraq
Al-Qaeda Taking Root in Lebanon As refugees move between Syria and Lebanon, fears grow that al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamist groups could increase their influence in Lebanon, writes Mohammad Harfoush. Lebanon
Suicides Add to Turkish Army’s Troubles Sibel Utku Bila writes that the rise of suicides in the Turkish army is a sign of deeper problems. Turkey
