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
Egypt debates customary marriage, polygamy The Egyptian Catholic Church recently announced that it needs to further study the unified personal status law proposals, at a time when customary marriage and polygamy remain under debate for Muslims. Egypt
Was Morsi’s brief presidency an opportunity lost for Israel? The late Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi hated Israel, but his relationship with Hamas held the promise of negotiating a long-term truce between the organization and Israel and potentially altering the landscape in Gaza. Palestine
Cappadocia victim of Turkish ruling party's love of concrete A new law claiming to protect the natural beauty of Cappadocia strips municipal governments of decision-making powers and oversight, handing authority over the future of the region to a panel whose leader is appointed by the president. Turkey
Will a secular woman lead Israel’s religious right? If polls show that secular Ayelet Shaked is likely to get the most votes, she might succeed in getting the leadership of the religious right political camp. Israel
Trump may chicken out on Iran, frets Israel Israeli security officials are getting worried that escalating tensions between the United States and Iran could spill over into Israel through an attack by Hezbollah on the northern border. Israel
Is Qatari money to Gaza falling into Hamas operatives' hands? Despite Israeli claims that it strictly controls the distribution of Qatari financial assistance transferred to Gaza, some of the funds appear to be ending up in the hands of Hamas operatives through "commissions," deceit and "protection money." Qatar
Israel’s ultra-Orthodox tied to Netanyahu Without an alliance between them, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not be able to form the next government and the ultra-Orthodox might find themselves in the opposition. Israel
First Mohamed to play for Jerusalem soccer team results in racist reaction The decision by Beitar Jerusalem owner Moshe Hogeg to hire Ali Mohamed to play for the team unleashed all the team’s racist demons, particularly among La Familia, the team’s infamously far-right fan club. Israel
Gezi Park detainees to finally get day in court The Gezi trials, in which 16 people face life imprisonment without parole, are set to finally begin and will test judicial independence in Turkey. Turkey
Amberin Zaman talks Turkey, the Kurds and Syria Amberin Zaman, Al-Monitor's senior correspondent reporting from the Middle East, North Africa and Europe, discusses Turkey, the Kurds and Syria in a webinar recorded in June 2019. Originals
Senate votes to constrain Trump on Gulf arms sales as Iran tensions heat up A bipartisan group of senators rebuked President Donald Trump for his Iran emergency declaration hours after Tehran shot down a US drone over the Persian Gulf. Saudi Arabia
US sanctions fail to bend Iran’s economy, expert says Al-Monitor contributor Bijan Khajehpour said at an Al-Monitor event in Washington today that the Donald Trump administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign has not succeeded in crippling the country's economy. United States
