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
University students, religious seminaries keep flame of Iraq protests burning As the Iraqi parliament fails to appoint a new prime minister, thousands of university students and religious seminary students join the protests. Iraq
White House whips Senate allies to block Armenian genocide resolution The White House has so far succeeded in keeping the Senate from passing a resolution recognizing the Armenian genocide, but the Trump administration is slowly running out of options. Turkey
In shift, State’s Hook says Yemen’s Houthis independent from Iran A top Trump administration Iran official praised a de-escalation proposal by Yemen’s Houthi rebels amid apparent progress in Saudi-Houthi talks to end the war in Yemen. Saudi Arabia
Is Iran's long-serving speaker retiring from politics? Iran's parliament speaker said he is not running in February's parliamentary elections and also does not plan to run for president in 2021; these statements brought jubilation to the camp of his hard-line rivals and triggered debate as to what his next steps might be. Iran
Pentagon: US not considering doubling counter-Iran deployment The Pentagon is sending mixed messages on whether the United States will deploy more troops to the Middle East to counter perceived threats from Iran. United States
US pushes to reintegrate militants after Islamic State fight A senior State Department official told Al-Monitor the administration is working to help Middle Eastern and African countries reintegrate thousands of fighters who joined the Islamic State and its affiliates. Saudi Arabia
Intel: How Israel — and Netanyahu — stand to gain from Pompeo's Morocco visit Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has arrived in Morocco for a one-day trip aimed boosting ties with a country that the State Department deems a "critical partner" across a range of issues ahead of the visit. Morocco
Arab party reconsiders support of Gantz over Jordan Valley annexation Talks about annexing the Jordan Valley raise concerns amid Arab Knesset members that the Blue and White party is veering right. Palestine
Why are Netanyahu’s associates indicted in submarine scandal, but not PM? Revelations in the submarine scandal and indictments on bribery and breach of trust have turned it into the most serious case of security corruption ever exposed in Israel. Israel
Womens' groups welcome conviction for student's murder The rape and murder of university student Sule Cet in Ankara last year spurred activists to demand justice. Some say even harsh sentencing will not stem the rising murder rate of women. Turkey
Intel: Here’s how many US troops Trump wants to keep in Syria After months of uncertainty and ambiguity surrounding US troop levels in Syria as part of President Donald Trump’s mission to secure the war-torn country’s northeast oil fields, the Pentagon is finally disclosing a number. Syria
Khamenei labels some Iran protesters martyrs Iran's supreme leader was uncharacteristically active in the government's response to the recent protests. Iran
