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
EU says Iran deal parties trying to salvage deal, not ready to trigger dispute mechanism The remaining parties to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal are not yet prepared to trigger the accord’s dispute-resolution mechanism over Iran’s decision to reduce its compliance to protest crippling US economic sanctions. United States
Three years on, coup attempt continues to reshape Turkey On the third anniversary of the July 15 coup attempt, politics, foreign policy and daily life continue to bare marks of the night that would remake Turkey. Turkey
Israeli court rules Abbas responsible for terror attacks An Israeli court ruled that the Palestinian Authority is to be held responsible for terror attacks not carried out by its own people, prompting questions of how the ruling will affect PA security cooperation with Israel. Palestine
Iran calls for concrete steps from Europe to save nuclear deal In response to European statements regarding keeping the nuclear deal alive, Iran says it wants to see operational steps rather than statements. United States
New Turkish political party in works as economy czar quits AKP Turkey’s former economy chief, Ali Babacan, quit the ruling party last week in the first overt move toward creating a new rival party. Turkey
US ban on anti-Iran militant group could have wide-ranging impact By expanding its terrorist watchlist, Washington is potentially making Iran, Pakistan and China happy. Saudi Arabia
Russia eyes big picture with S-400 sale to Turkey Russia's controversial S-400 deal with Turkey is more about constructing a Middle East less dependent on the United States than direct competition. Turkey
How Turkey is planning to handle US blowback over S-400s Some parts of the Russian made S-400 missile system arrived in Ankara in the last several days, but none of the shipment included missiles. Turkey
Forced disappearances in Syria leave invisible toll Syrians continue to look for their loved ones, believed imprisoned or executed by the Islamic State. Syria
Egypt weighs pros and cons of IMF loan As the IMF reform program with Egypt is set to come to an end in August, future cooperation agreements between the two sides are yet to be revealed as experts weigh the pros and cons of the program. Egypt
Gaza not soothed by minor Israeli trade concessions Despite a truce understanding, tension is still high on the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel. Palestine
Netanyahu says he’ll never evacuate West Bank settlements By stating that Israel will never again evacuate settlements, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu officially denied any intention of pursuing his 2009 recognition at his Bar Ilan speech of the two-state solution. Palestine
