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
Iran’s shows off ballistic missiles, drones in drill amid US tensions The military exercise in Iran's central desert comes as the Trump administration makes a final push to punish Tehran. Iran
Iranian forces in east Syria redeploy after airstrikes The Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and its militias in Deir ez-Zor, eastern Syria, are trying to avoid further losses from suspected Israeli airstrikes by redeploying, hiding inside residential neighborhoods in large cities and putting their strategic weapons in underground tunnels. Israel
Egyptian who ruled in favor of ceding key islands to Saudi Arabia voted parliament speaker Egypt’s parliament elected Hanafy Ali el-Gebaly as its new speaker, raising controversy as Gebaly chaired the Supreme Constitutional Court that validated an agreement under which Egypt agreed to transfer the strategic Tiran and Sanafir islands to Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia
Egypt’s Nubians get second chance at requesting compensation On the occasion of the anniversary of laying the foundation stone of the Aswan dam, the Egyptian state opened the door to the second phase of the compensation paid for the Nubians who were displaced from their lands. Egypt
Ethiopia lays foundation stone of new dam amid stalled GERD talks As yet another round of negotiations falters between Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, Addis Ababa announced the beginning of construction of a new smaller dam on the Blue Nile Basin. Egypt
Could Capitol Hill riots happen in Israel’s Knesset? People who worked with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argue that what happened in Washington on Capitol Hill could also happen in Jerusalem. Israel
Hamas seizes Gulf detente opportunity to get close to Saudi Arabia Hamas praised Saudi Arabia for the Gulf reconciliation, in an attempt to break the deadlock with Riyadh. Palestine
Israel turns its back on French-Egyptian Mideast initiative Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi rejected the invitation for meeting French, German, Egyptian and Jordanian foreign ministers in Cairo, citing the nationwide lockdown in Israel as an excuse. Israel
Oman moves ahead with overdue reforms Oman's leadership pushes ahead with reforms, cornered by the COVID-19 crisis and long-standing weaknesses in the local economy. Activists call for a constitutional monarchy. Oman
Iran’s Quds Force denies deaths in Israeli airstrikes in Syria The Afghan Fatemiyoun also denied members were hit, but said Syrian army personnel were killed. Israel
Israel to start vaccinating prisoners next week Both Israeli and Palestinian prisoners will be included in the country's national vaccination drive. Israel
Turkey's nationalists threaten AKP alliance with calls to ban pro-Kurdish party While claiming loyalty to the ruling party, Turkish nationalist leader Devlet Bahceli is squeezing the president by demanding the outright banning of the pro-Kurdish HDP. Turkey
