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
Why Egypt’s economic reforms aren’t enough to win over the street A new report shows significant progress in Egypt, but demonstrations are placing new pressures on President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to do more to battle corruption. Egypt
Who will pay $53 billion for Turkey’s safe zone project? Turkey wants to build some 400,000 housing units in northeastern Syria where Operation Peace Spring is taking place in order to resettle some 2 million Syrian refugees. Syria
Israel needs to learn lesson from Turkish assault on Kurds After the Turkish attack on the Kurds, Israel must realize that when and if the time comes, US President Donald Trump might not stand by the Jewish state. Israel
Erdogan, Sultan of Jerusalem? Israel's Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz is elaborating a campaign to reduce what he considers growing Turkish influence in East Jerusalem. Palestine
Will Jordan extend Israeli lease of farmlands? Israeli farmers will soon be forced to abandon their agricultural lands at Naharayim, in Jordanian territory, at the end of their 25-year leases this month according to a provision of the peace treaty between Jordan and Israel. Israel
Gas trade: Stand-alone win-win for US-Turkey relations The only foreseeable and quantifiable area in the relationships between Turkey and the United States is gas trade. Turkey
The Aramco attack and the rise of nonstate actors The attack against Saudi Arabia's Aramco facility points to a crucial change on how one traditionally understands armed conflict in the Middle East. Saudi Arabia
Domestic politics, Idlib sway timing of Turkey’s Syrian operation Erdogan’s latest campaign in Syria may be justified as an effort to fight terrorism, but his immediate objectives include stopping the unraveling within his party, fracturing the opposition bloc and creating space inside Syria for a possible new wave of refugees from Idlib. Syria
How does Washington see Russia's Gulf security concept? Washington ignores Moscow's initiative for the Gulf security architecture and there are some good reasons why. Legacy: Gulf
Iranian women cheer at soccer game, finally For the first time since 1981, Iranian women got unrestricted access to a soccer stadium as they watch the national team beat Cambodia 14-0. Iran
Egypt dismisses 1,070 teachers in extremism fight The Egyptian Ministry of Education dismissed some 1,000 teachers under the rationale that they had disseminated extremist ideas and belonged to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. Egypt
After Amman gives in to striking teachers, more protests could come Now that the monthlong teachers' strike is finally resolved, the Jordanian government fears other public sector employees may also take to the streets. Jordan
