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
Deadly stampede kills scores at burial of Iran's Soleimani Scores of mourners died in a stampede that marred and briefly delayed a massive burial for the Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani assassinated in a US airstrike last week. United States
US withdrawal from Iraq is Israel’s worst-case scenario The leaked letter published this week about the United States considering withdrawing from Iraq and Syria generated great concern within the Israeli security establishment. Iraq
TurkStream gas pipeline will bring Moscow, Ankara closer than ever Turkey and Russia are set to inaugurate the TurkStream gas pipeline, which promises to increase Russian leverage in regional energy markets. Turkey
Intel: US uses Uighur crisis to sideline China in MidEast The United States is highlighting China’s mass detention of some one million Muslim Uighurs in concentration camps as part of a bid to reduce Beijing’s diplomatic clout in the Middle East. Bahrain
How Moscow is positioning itself as broker amid Mideast tensions Russian President Vladimir Putin's shuttle diplomacy in the Middle East seeks to gain Russia more power and higher status. Syria
US-Iran tensions shift Iraq from brink of reform to brink of war After its assassination of a major player in Iraq, the United States must now engage with the anti-government, pro-reform nationalist protesters in Iraq in order to push against Iranian influence in the country. Iraq
Region watches for sparks as Palestinian factions mourn Soleimani The assassination of Iran's Qasem Soleimani has prompted many sad reactions among the various Palestinian factions, but so far all are resisting the urge to avenge him. Palestine
How Israel is feeding fire of US-Iran escalation Instead of stoking the fire and congratulating US President Donald Trump over the killing of Iran’s Qasem Soleimani, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should look at the larger picture. Palestine
Palestinian Fatah camps jockeying for post-Abbas leadership With Palestinian elections supposedly in the works, the leadership struggle within Fatah is intensifying in the quest to lead the movement in the post-Abbas era. Palestine
National campaign to support domestic goods on rise in Iraq Iraqi protesters launched campaigns to support the national goods and boycott foreign and Iranian goods in particular. Originals
Is high-profile Meshaal setting stage to lead Hamas again? The growing political activity of former Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshaal has prompted some to believe he is either planning to return to Hamas leadership or enter the expected presidential election in the Palestinian territories. Palestine
How Soleimani’s assassination could affect Iran’s Syria strategy Iran could use its position in Syria to strike against the United States and Israel as part of Tehran's retaliation for last week's killing of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani. Iraq
