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
Palestinians say not even caves safe from Israeli bulldozers Residents of the West Bank village of Farasin are living in fear of displacement after receiving demolition notices for their houses, tents and even caves. Palestine
Israel, India advance on Phalcon AWACS megadeal India’s Cabinet is set to approve next week a $1 billion deal to purchase two Israeli Phalcon AWACS. Israel
Turkey courts Hamas despite US pressure Despite US and Israeli criticism of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s meeting with the Hamas leadership, the relationship between Turkey and Hamas remains strong. Palestine
Israelis across the globe join anti-Netanyahu protests Israelis in 18 cities across the globe joined last week the anti-Netanyahu protest movement. Israel
Adelson set to buy US ambassador's residence in Tel Aviv Washington is reportedly rushing the sale of the abandoned US ambassador's residence in Tel Aviv to US billionaire Sheldon Adelson, adding another layer of solidity to the embassy's transfer to Jerusalem before the November election. Israel
Israeli airstrikes target T4 base, Syrian regime says Israel continues to strike targets in Syria, Assad's state-run news agency says. Israel
Congressman beats challenger who wants to condition US aid to Israel Rep. Richard Neal's victory over progressive Alex Morse came after pro-Palestine Democrats won primaries earlier in the election year. Neal was endorsed by a large pro-Israel group. Palestine
American who joined IS pleads guilty to terrorism charge Omer Kuzu faces up to 20 years in federal prison. Syria
US officials say partial lift of Cyprus arms embargo not related to Turkish-Greek tensions Amid ongoing Turkey-Greece tensions in the eastern Mediterranean, US officials maintained the partial lifting of an arms embargo on Cyprus aims to reduce Russian influence and is not a step against Ankara’s recent maneuvers in the region. Turkey
The Takeaway: Netanyahu expects ‘warm peace’ with UAE to extend to other Arab states UAE reaffirms commitment to Palestinians; Khamenei goes low in criticizing peace deal; #Metoo in Iran; Egypt builds new city and resort. Israel
Audio: Despite enormous challenges, Yemen’s educators return to classroom Yemen's ongoing civil war, cholera and coronavirus outbreak and a lack of paychecks have failed to deter intrepid educators from opening school doors this week. Yemen
Qatar, Egypt react to UAE-Israel agreement The two countries' differing reactions show that Arab states continue to have mixed feelings on the historic normalization agreement. United Arab Emirates
