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
Egypt expected to become regional gas hub The Egyptian government has recently announced that the country stopped importing liquefied natural gas and managed to achieve self-sufficiency thanks to the Zohr gas field, raising hopes that Egypt would become a regional gas trading and exporting hub. Egypt
Israel tells Abbas not to inflame Hamas further A Hamas leader accused Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and other Arab states of pushing Israel to wage war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Palestine
New coach pledges facelift to Egypt's national soccer team Javier Aguirre tells Al-Monitor that his main challenge is to raise the morale of his team after their defeat in the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Egypt
Russia, Turkey continue tug of war over Idlib despite the agreements As the first deadlines of the Russia-Turkey deal on Idlib draw near, the two countries each seek to push their own agenda while avoiding large-scale conflict. Syria
Opposition to US plans for east Syria unites fragile Astana trio No daylight among Iran, Turkey and Russia in opposing US policies in Syria; Can Iraq mediate between the United States and Iran? Iraq
Intel: Why Ankara is refraining from retaliation against Riyadh over missing dissident Turkey seems to be reluctant to wage a full-out-war against Saudi Arabia on the fate of missing Saudi journalist, as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan adopts low-key approach. Saudi Arabia
What happened to Jamal Khashoggi? The disappearance of Jamal Khashoggi from the Saudi Consulate in Istanbul highlights, once again, the House of Saud's division on the war in Yemen and the crown prince's decision-making. Saudi Arabia
How will Basra be affected by the closure of US consulate? Officials and experts in the city of Basra warn of the massive negative effects on the city following the US State Department's decision to close its consulate there. Iraq
Wildfires ravage marshlands on Iran-Iraq border The destruction of important marshlands and other natural reserves in wildfires in Iran may be caused by humans as well as nature. Iran
Europe’s big eggs in Turkey’s economic basket Economic concerns lie at the heart of Turkey’s moves to repair ties with European countries, which, in turn, are open to Ankara’s overtures due to the significant stakes they have in the ailing Turkish economy. Turkey
Is the Idlib buffer plan really implemented? The Turkish-Russian deal for a demilitarized zone in Idlib is not going on as planned, with radical groups keeping their positions and lingering uncertainty on the scale of the pullout of heavy weaponry. Syria
