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
Ashrawi’s exit of the PLO sign of organization’s demise Senior Palestinian official Hanan Ashrawi resigned from her post in the PLO’s Executive Committee, amid reports that she was frustrated over the lone decision-making process in the Palestinian organization. Palestine
Arab-Israeli woman announces presidential run Elham Khazen has become the first Arab woman to run for the Israeli presidency. Israel
High stakes for Iran, US as Tehran waits to see Biden approach Iran has made it clear that if the new US administration of Joe Biden wants to reenter the nuclear deal, no preconditions are acceptable to Iran. United States
Senate fails to pass resolution blocking Trump administration’s F-35 sale to the UAE Major obstacle falls to Trump administration's Gulf security goals. United Arab Emirates
The Takeaway: Israel would prefer Assad rely on Gulf, not Iran Israeli scholar Micky Aharonson says Israel can live with Assad, if Assad can live without Iran; Amberin Zaman gets the scoop, again, on Turkey-Israel ties; should we forget about Israel-Saudi normalization for now? Israel
Iran sanctions US envoy to Yemen in retaliation for US blacklisting The Iranian Foreign Ministry announced sanctions on Christopher Henzel, the US ambassador to Yemen. Yemen
State Department says more Syria sanctions possible before presidential transition US Syria envoy Joel Rayburn also told Congress that non-Syrians could soon be sanctioned under the Caesar Act. Originals
Outgoing Syria envoy reflects on Turkey, the Kurds and what everyone got wrong In a long-ranging interview with Al-Monitor, James Jeffrey looks back on his efforts to incorporate fragments of Obama-era initiatives into a cohesive Middle East policy. Syria
'Seeds of progress' in ending Gulf row with Qatar, UAE envoy says UAE Ambassador to the United States Yousef al-Otaiba signaled the Gulf parties are getting closer to an agreement. United Arab Emirates
Emirati, Israeli officials upbeat about Biden Administration The director general of Israel’s Foreign Ministry, Alon Ushpiz, and the UAE’s assistant minister for culture and public diplomacy, Omar Ghobash, discussed the prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace, Iran, and combating bigotry in the region and more at an Al-Monitor event. United Arab Emirates
Iran’s Rouhani suggests nuclear deal’s fate is in Biden’s hands President Hassan Rouhani said Iran will resume full compliance with the nuclear deal as soon as his incoming American counterpart uses his signature to rejoin the same accord. United States
Iran makes arrests in nuclear scientist's killing, official says Iranian parliamentary adviser Hossein Amir Abdollahian said some of the "perpetrators" had been identified and arrested. Israel
