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
Is UFC champion Nurmagomedov 'new face' of Russian soft power in Mideast? Khabib Nurmagomedov is the first Russian to hold a UFC champion title, but there's more to it when it comes to the Middle East. Russia
Will PMU form an air force unit? Iran-backed PMU factions are trying to form a PMU air force unit with Iranian support, but the top PMU leader says no. Iraq
Children even fair game in Israel’s election campaign Right-wing politicians are either silent or support the expulsion of Filipino mothers and their Israel-born children. Israel
The interplay between exchange rates and inflation in Iran While the Iranian rial has strengthened against the dollar, inflation remains high, and the budget deficit is not helping the matter. Iran
Crisis-hit Turkey suffers erosion in investments Turkey’s economic downturn has been marked by a dramatic decline in investments, both private and public, bearing heavily on joblessness. Turkey
Failure to reign in Idlib jihadists makes trouble for Turkey A year after the Sochi agreement, the situation in Syria’s northwest remains as tense as ever. Syria
Saudi-led coalition kills own fighters in prison airstrike Many of those killed by Saudi-backed forces in an assault on a Houthi-run detention facility in Yemen were prisoners loyal to the Saudi-led alliance. Saudi Arabia
Palestinians see Greenblatt resignation as sign of failure for US Mideast vision While most Palestinians believe the resignation of Jason Greenblatt is a sign of failure, some argue the Trump policy will not change. Palestine
Hezbollah, Israel opt for de-escalation Both the Lebanese Hezbollah movement and Israel seemed to be avoiding confrontation despite the latest round of violence. Israel
Jewish heritage in the West Bank, a tool of Israel’s right Education Minister Rafi Peretz announced that he plans to expand school trips to Jewish heritage sites in the West Bank, generating angry reactions from politicians from the center-left. Palestine
Will Greenblatt’s resignation hurt Netanyahu? Seniors in the Netanyahu government regret the resignation of US special envoy Jason Greenblatt, whom Jerusalem considers an ally within the Trump administration. Palestine
US waives human rights rules to send military aid to Egypt The State Department has authorized the release of $1.3 billion in aid to Egypt despite human rights concerns from US lawmakers, Al-Monitor has learned. Egypt
