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
Trump unfreezes US military aid to Lebanon without explanation The White House has lifted a hold on $105 million in security assistance to Lebanon. Lebanon
Concerns over finances, not Iran, will end Qatar crisis Citizens of Gulf States leading the embargo against Qatar are having to make economic sacrifices while their leaders continue their "ill-advised" and "unsupervised" spending. Saudi Arabia
Report: China, Russia worried about militants' return from Syria Beijing and Moscow are concerned that citizens who left to fight with jihadi groups in Syria could stoke radicalization at home following their return. Syria
Netanyahu’s rival accelerates campaign for party leadership Gideon Saar wants to replace Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: He’s more hawkish than Netanyahu; he campaigns for a new status quo with the ultra-Orthodox; and he stresses the importance of engaging Israel’s Arab citizens in dialogue. Israel
Turkey-Libya agreement shakes up eastern Mediterranean Ankara is establishing a clear path to fulfill its eastern Mediterranean energy ambitions through an maritime boundary agreement with Libya’s internationally recognized government. Turkey
National-religious leaders call on Netanyahu to quit The leadership of the religious-Zionism stream fears that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will take down with him the whole right-wing camp. Israel
Instead of forced enlistment, Israeli leadership must dialogue with ultra-Orthodox Instead of demanding that the ultra-Orthodox enlist in the army — like the secular parties insisted during election campaigns — Israel’s political leadership must open a dialogue with the ultra-Orthodox leadership about academic studies and the labor market. Israel
Israeli left must unite to survive The Democratic Camp and Labor-Gesher may need to join together to survive a third round of elections in which the Blue and White Party is perceived as the key to Netanyahu’s defeat. Israel
Israel's new defense minister pushes Jewish settlement in Hebron Exploiting to the fullest the short opportunity he got to serve as defense minister, Naftali Bennett has no qualms about pushing for more Jewish settlements in the volatile West Bank city of Hebron. Palestine
Iranian parliament members seek answers after deadly protests Iranian members of parliament are seeking answers regarding the number of people killed in the recent protests in Iran. Iran
Hamas agrees to join elections following brief delay Hamas briefly postponed announcing its participation in the Palestinian legislative elections in what was likely a show of independence. Palestine
What comes after Iraqi PM's resignation? Following the Iraqi prime minister's resignation, the parliament is to appoint a new prime minister and move forward with demanded reforms. Iraq
