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 HTS reining in or expanding jihadist network in Idlib? Ansar al-Tawhid recently attacked a Russian operations room in the south of Idlib governate, killing and injuring several soldiers on the site, raising questions about the group’s identity and affiliations. Syria
Damascus scrambles for more control in southern Syria As the Russian-brokered Tafas agreement in the western countryside of Daraa between the Syrian regime and the Central Committee enters into force, the regime is now seeking to take over the towns outside its control in southern Syria before the upcoming 2021 presidential elections. Syria
Conflicting messages leave Palestinian workers outside Israel jobless Conflicting messages from Israeli authorities cause tens of thousands of Palestinian laborers to be stuck in the West Bank, unable to reenter Israel for work. Palestine
Turkey accuses PKK militants of executing 13 Turkish captives in Iraqi Kurdistan Turkey could use the deaths as justification to launch an operation against the PKK in Yazidi-dominated Sinjar, something Ankara has been lobbying Baghdad to greenlight. Turkey
Pentagon ‘comfortable’ with troop levels in Middle East ahead of review Whether the United States pulls forces from the Middle East to counter China may well depend on the success of Biden's diplomacy with Iran Gulf
European powers blast Iran's uranium metal production France, Germany and the United Kingdom condemn Iran's move as one that would undermine the nuclear agreement. Iran
Iran denies diplomat was arrested in Turkey for allegedly helping kill dissident The allegations stem from the 2019 killing of Masoud Molavi Vardanjani in Istanbul. Turkey
Will Russia and Turkey withdraw their proxies from Libya? The UN delivers a potentially game-changing win for diplomacy, but the United States wants Russian and Turkish mercenaries out of Libya. Originals
Clashes in West Bank during anti-Israeli settlement protests The Palestinian Authority reported several incidents throughout the territory. It follows other violent clashes in recent weeks between the Israeli military and Palestinians. Palestine
US to revoke terror designation for Yemen's Houthis Washington officials continue to condemn the Iran-linked rebels' activities, saying the terror revocation stems from humanitarian concerns. Yemen
Islamic State escalates attacks in Syrian desert The Islamic State organization (IS) kills a large number of regime forces on an almost daily basis in the Syrian Desert, which has turned into a black hole draining the regime forces. Syria
Tunisian tennis star Ons Jabeur loses at Australian Open Ons Jabeur is the highest-ranked Arab woman in tennis history. She hopes more women from the region will pick up rackets. Originals
