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’s immigration, endowments ministries cooperate in fight against illegal immigration The Egyptian Ministry of Immigration has signed cooperation protocols with the Ministry of Endowments and the church as part of efforts to combat illegal immigration. Egypt
Egypt slams Turkish role in Syria Egypt has recently condemned Turkey’s role in Syria, which prompted condemnation on the part of Ankara, fueling the already existing tensions between the two countries. Egypt
Violence in air as Israel mourns Rabin 25 years after the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Israeli society is divided more than ever and incitement is reaching new heights. Israel
Neglected Yazidi mass graves finally exhumed in Iraq Six months after the exhumation of the last Yazidi mass graves, those of the Yazidi mothers are being exhumed in Sinjar, which contain over 80 mass graves. Originals
New initiative in Israel for Jewish-Arab party Center-left politicians and former Knesset members are advancing an initiative for a Jewish-Arab party. Originals
After meeting Esper, Gantz says US committed to Israel’s security It took three meetings between US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper and Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz to convince the latter to drop his opposition to the F-35 sale to the United Arab Emirates. United Arab Emirates
Pentagon chief visits Israel, Bahrain with little fanfare The quiet visit came less than a week after the defense secretary said the United States would like to see regional security cooperation with Israel to deter Iran. Bahrain
US sells seized Iranian fuel, seeks forfeiture of missiles The United States has sold and delivered the 1.1 million barrels of Iranian oil seized from four Venezuela-bound vessels in August. United States
Another mass grave discovered in Libya's Tarhuna Libya's Tripoli-based government has issued arrest warrants for the Kaniyat militia that long controlled Tarhuna. Libya
Tunisia implements new restrictions as virus cases soar The North African country is experiencing an outbreak of the coronavirus after relatively low cases earlier in the year. Originals
Intel: Trump administration notifies Congress of proposed F-35 sale to UAE Lawmakers have introduced legislation intended to ensure the sale does not eclipse Israel's regional military edge. United Arab Emirates
Turkey joins chorus of condemnation of Nice murders After three people were killed by a suspected Islamist extremist in France’s coastal city of Nice, Turkey's president took a break from his row with Paris to condemn the violence. Turkey
