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
How Yair Netanyahu's mockery of protesters fits in Bibi's plan While his son ridicules the mass demonstrations on Twitter, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is exploiting the protests against him to unify his own camp. Israel
IDF strikes Syrian targets in wake of Golan incident The Israel Defense Forces acknowledged conducting a series of airstrikes in Syria Aug. 3 after a bombing attempt in the southern Golan Heights. Israel
Pro-Iran militias continue hitting military bases in Iraq Hitting military bases in Baghdad and other areas, armed groups linked to Iran continues to call for revenge for the January killing of their former leaders Qasem Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis. Iraq
Cairo denounces Hagia Sophia move, develops Egypt's Christian sites Days after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan declared Istanbul’s historic Hagia Sophia a mosque, Egypt announced ambitious restoration plans for South Sinai's Saint Catherine area. Egypt
Yair Lapid leading list of Netanyahu’s adversaries Telem-Yesh Atid party leader Yair Lapid is probably the strongest adversary that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could face in the next elections. Israel
Row in Egypt after official says government imposes income tax on arrested drug dealers, prostitutes A tax official in Egypt has recently raised controversy when stating that the government is imposing an income tax on all drug traffickers, prostitutes and arms traders who are arrested. Egypt
Israel’s Iron Dome will soon be manufactured in the United States American firm Raytheon Technologies and Israeli-based Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd. will partner to produce the Iron Dome missile defense system. Originals
Turkey joins Syria in slamming oil agreement between US firm, Syrian Kurds Ankara has spoken out against a new oil agreement between an American-based company and the Kurdish-led Autonomous Administration of North and East Syria. Syria
Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan resume talks on Nile River dam This is the first set of talks since Ethiopia's controversial July announcement that it had completed the first stage of filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. Egypt
Congress wants to see the Pentagon’s hidden costs of deterring Iran Congress wants the Defense Department to regularly report on the costs required to deter Tehran's ambitions in the Middle East. Originals
Six years after Yazidi massacre, US urged to take 'bolder action' Iraq's Yazidis say the threat from the Islamic State and other extremist groups is preventing them from returning home. Iraq
Iran strikes Kurdish Iranian group in Iraqi territory Iran sometimes targets the positions of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan and other Kurdish Iranian groups based across the border in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Iraq
