At least 55 police were killed in a shootout during a raid on a militant hideout 80 miles from Cairo … Washington Post: “The militants, according to local media reports, belonged to Hasm, which Egypt’s security forces say is the armed wing of the Muslim Brotherhood.”

… while a New York woman cheers the carnage. Tweets the Washington Institute’s Eric Trager, “NY-based Muslim Brotherhood supporter, who frequently incites on social media, rails against calling those killed in Egypt today ‘martyrs.’” Sam Tadros of the Hudson Institute calls for an FBI investigation.

Iran, not the U.S., is the indispensable ally in Iraq, writes The Atlantic’s Emma Sky. “[Iran] is securing its corridors across Iraq and Syria, mediating between the different groups on the ground, while the United States occupies a shrinking space. Once more, Iran is playing the key role, helping to broker a deal between the PUK and the Iraqi government and guiding the Shia militias supporting the Iraqis. Iran has every interest in maintaining these militias—making it increasingly difficult for any Iraqi prime minister to demobilize them. And Turkey, which used to be a U.S. ally, is moving closer to Iran and Russia.”

December’s intended GCC summit will be postponed six months, reports The National. The delay is “due to the ongoing Qatar standoff — ’unless there is a big political breakthrough after the visit of US secretary of state Rex Tillerson to Riyadh to take part in Saudi-Iraqi co-ordination council meeting … after which he will visit Doha and other Asian countries,” a gulf diplomat told Al Rai. However, he added, ‘There are no strong indicators there will be a solution soon.’”

Qatar opposes Egyptian attempts to broker reconciliation between the PA and Hamas. It may hold off on paying wages of civil servants in Gaza, reports Al-Arabiya — historically one of the Gulf state’s principal arguments to the West as to why its support for Hamas is a good thing.