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
Jordan plans consulate in Western Sahara amid flareup The Jordanian consulate will reportedly be located in Laayoune, the largest city in the disputed region. Morocco
El Al, Etihad pledge further air travel cooperation The memorandum of understanding is the latest development in UAE-Israel ties following the normalization agreement. United Arab Emirates
West Bank, Gaza record highest ever daily virus toll The UN recently warned that parts of the Palestinian territories are not prepared to cope with a major outbreak of COVID-19. Palestine
Pompeo visits Christian Zionist museum on Israel trip The US secretary of state added to his farewell tour a museum founded by Mike Evans, an evangelical adviser to President Donald Trump. Israel
Top Netflix drama lays open Turkish divides The Turkish Netflix series Ethos has been both praised for bridging the divide between Turkey’s feuding segments and disparaged for enforcing them with cliches. Turkey
US-Turkey ties under Biden: confrontation or conciliation? The Biden era in Washington is looming as a tough test for Ankara, whose moves will largely determine how the scarred US-Turkish relationship develops. Turkey
Caught between a rock and a hard place, Erdogan seeks a way out Ankara has to improve Turkey’s international image with major reforms in order to attract much-needed foreign capital but the jury is out on whether President Erdogan can do it. Turkey
Trump-Heights settlement in Golan here to stay Several Israeli families are preparing to move in to the Trump Heights settlement village in the Golan Heights. Palestine
Hamas seeks to lock in Qatar aid while exchanging border fire with Israel As Israel fails to fulfil its part of the truce understandings and in light of Qatar's alleged refusal to increase and renew its financial grant to the Gaza Strip, tensions have resumed between Israel and Hamas. Palestine
Egypt, Sudan conduct joint military drills Egypt and Sudan carry out joint military training, further deepening their military ties, amid the faltering negotiations over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Egypt
Pompeo’s visit to Psagot settlement, a farewell gift from Trump to Israel US Secretary of State Pompeo's visit to the Psagot settlement, built on occupied land in the West Bank, reflects the Donald Trump administration’s decision to consider the Israeli settlements in the West Bank to be legal. Palestine
Egypt accuses Qatar of undermining peace talks via support for Libyan government Qatar has signed an agreement with the Tripoli-based Libyan government to build and train military forces in what some see as an attempt to undermine the current progress toward a political solution in Libya. Qatar
