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
Palestinians elect first female head of village in Jenin The election of a woman as head of the al-Judeida village council in the West Bank governorate of Jenin shed light on the inequalities between genders in leadership positions in Palestine. Palestine
Militants step up Sinai strikes on security personnel, civilians Theories about the motivation behind an escalation of attacks in the Sinai peninsula say that terrorists could be aiming to distort Egypt’s image abroad — especially in light of an international soccer tournament — or that they might be retaliating for the trial of a high-ranking Islamist militant. Egypt
US envoy to Israel demolishes American Bahrain conference achievements The participation of American Ambassador David Friedman in the tunnel-opening ceremony in Jerusalem undermines all his country's efforts at the Bahrain economic workshop. Palestine
Can Peretz breathe new life into the Labor Party? Amir Peretz’s victory in the Labor Party primary is a vote for someone who has promised to revive the party and a defeat for Ehud Barak, who had other plans for it. Israel
Will new chairman of Iranian foreign policy panel set fire to nuclear deal? The election of Mojtaba Zonnour as chairman of Iran’s parliamentary foreign policy commission has led to speculation about possible moves he may make to force the government to leave the 2015 nuclear deal. Iran
World powers implore Iran to stick with nuclear deal European nations expressed regret that Iran had exceeded a 300-kilogram cap on its stockpile of low enriched uranium, but diplomats said they were seeking ways to keep Iran in the nuclear deal. Russia
Israel’s Liberman takes on radicalization of religious Zionism Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Liberman may have exaggerated in railing against the country’s religious pre-military academies, but he's correct about the radicalization of the religious Zionist stream. Israel
Israel’s Mossad chief spearheads campaign against Iran in Syria Mossad head Yossi Cohen delivered an aggressive speech against Iranian entrenchment in Syria, reflecting the forceful policy adopted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Israel
Erdogan finds warm welcome, 'shared vision' in Beijing Turkey and China put their differences aside at a summit to expand trade and investment, but Beijing’s treatment of its Uighur minority and competition over foreign markets still trouble the relationship. Turkey
Trump critics rethink US policy toward Saudi Arabia A change in direction of US policy toward the Saudis should be part of a broader change in policy to the region, especially regarding Iran. Saudi Arabia
Palestine seeks to achieve energy independence Seeking to reduce its huge dependence on Israel, Palestine is set to establish its first waste-to-energy power project. Palestine
Iran ready for 'second phase' in scaling back nuclear deal commitments Iran is expressing full determination to enter a "second phase" in reducing its commitments under the nuclear deal as it perceives European moves to protect the pact as insufficient. United States
