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
Saudi Arabia declares nationwide coronavirus curfew Saudi Arabia has announced a nationwide curfew for the next three weeks in a bid to slow the spread of COVID-19. Saudi Arabia
Intel: US rebukes France for Iran prisoner swap The US State Department issued a stinging rebuke of France on Sunday after it released an Iranian prisoner wanted by the United States for allegedly evading sanctions. Iran
Gaza officials warn fragile health care system ‘cannot survive’ coronavirus After Gaza confirmed two cases of the coronavirus, health officials fear the territory is not prepared to handle the expected spread. Palestine
Turkey considers freeing some detainees as virus menaces prison populations Like other countries fearing an outbreak of COVID-19 in overcrowded prisons, Turkey is debating wether to free some of its 300,000 prisoners — but no political detainees, rights groups observe. Turkey
Rouhani calls US offer to fight coronavirus 'great lie’ President Hassan Rouhani and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have both rejected a US offer to help fight the coronavirus and say the United States is instead preventing them from being able to fight back against the pandemic. Iran
Arab legislators at last to head major Knesset committees Blue and White leader Benny Gantz took a courageous and historic move by pushing for two Arab legislators to head Knesset committees. Israel
Palestinians launch initiatives to fight COVID-19 outbreak Dozens of individual and community-based initiatives were launched in the West Bank following the declaration of a state of emergency when COVID-19 infections were detected in Bethlehem. Palestine
Impacts of US withdrawal from Qaim base in Iraqi border with Syria US forces pulled out of the strategic Qaim area on the Iraqi-Syrian border in mid-March, citing success in preventing IS resurgence; locals agree that the Islamic State presence has been significantly weakened but warn the move may lead to nonstate actors gaining more power over official Iraqi security forces. Iraq
Palestinians jailed in Israel fear coronavirus outbreak The Palestinian authorities are calling on Israel to release Palestinian inmates amid concerns of a potential coronavirus surge. Palestine
Under nationwide curfew, Jordanians now ponder economic cost of coronavirus Jordan has taken some measures to contain the economic repercussions of the coronavirus, but some analysts believe they are not enough to avoid total collapse. Jordan
Egypt takes economic action to counter coronavirus effects The Egyptian government announced a series of widely welcomed economic measures to help protect the industrial sector against the negative repercussions of the coronavirus. Egypt
Why some Iranians are opposed to closing religious shrines to fight coronavirus The Iranian government's decision to close religious shrines in Qom, Mashhad and Greater Tehran to combat the spread of COVID-19 has caused an outcry among some who oppose the move for reasons of tradition or religion. Iraq
