Blinken urges Middle East countries to support peaceful political transition in Syria

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is stepping up efforts to unite Middle Eastern countries and support a peaceful political transition in Syria.

After talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, he will meet Turkey’s foreign minister on Friday to try to bring Turkey to a consensus that prevents Syria from spiraling into wider turmoil. This is Blinken’s 12th visit to the Middle East since the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza last year, and his first since the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The outgoing Biden administration is particularly concerned that a power vacuum in Syria could exacerbate already tense tensions in the region and create conditions for the Islamic State group to regain territory and influence.

Fighting between Israel and Hamas has plunged Gaza into a serious humanitarian crisis. The Israeli offensive has killed more than 44,800 Palestinians in Gaza, more than half of whom were women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which did not disclose how many were combatants. The Israeli military said it had killed more than 17,000 militants but provided no evidence.

The Gaza war was triggered by a Hamas attack in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 250 people hostage. About 100 hostages remain in Gaza, and at least a third of them are believed to be dead.

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Blinken seeks to unite Middle Eastern countries in support of peaceful political transition in Syria

ANKARA – U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken will conclude a visit to Turkey on Friday with talks with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan as he continues efforts to unite Middle Eastern countries in support of a peaceful political transition in Syria.

The second leg of Blinken’s latest trip to the Middle East was the 12th since Israel’s war with Hamas broke out last year and the first since the ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over the weekend. Blinken met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to try to bring Türkiye to consensus.

The outgoing Biden administration is particularly concerned that a power vacuum in Syria could exacerbate already high tensions in the region and create conditions for the Islamic State group to regain territory and influence.

For years, the United States has supported the Kurdish rebel group the Syrian Defense Forces in anti-Islamic State operations, but Turkey views it as a threat and has repeatedly warned of a major military operation against it.

In his meeting with Erdogan, Blinken stressed the importance of continuing the fight against the Islamic State while supporting Syria’s transition, protecting the rights of women and minorities and taking action to secure and destroy suspected chemical weapons stockpiles.

The State Department said Blinken “stressed the need to ensure the coalition to defeat ISIS can continue its critical mission”.

Later Friday, Blinken will return to Aqaba, Jordan, where he will begin his current trip, which will include meetings on Saturday with Arab foreign ministers and senior officials from the European Union, the Arab League and the United Nations.

The meetings “will discuss how to support a comprehensive Syrian-led political process to achieve a transitional process… that meets the aspirations of the brotherly Syrian people, ensures the reconstruction of Syria’s national institutions, and safeguards Syria’s unity, territorial integrity, sovereignty and security”, stability and the rights of all citizens,” the Jordanian Foreign Ministry said.

Türkiye to reopen embassy in Syria

ANKARA, Turkey – Turkey has appointed a charge d’affaires to reopen its embassy in Syria, Türkiye’s state-run news agency reported.

Due to escalating security concerns during the Syrian civil war, the Turkish Embassy in Damascus suspended operations in 2012, and embassy staff and their families were recalled to Türkiye.

Anadolu news agency said late Thursday that Türkiye appointed its ambassador to Mauritania, Burhan Koroglu, to the post.

U.S. food agency says two U.N. aid convoys came under violent attack in Gaza

UNITED NATIONS – Two U.N. aid convoys have come under violent attack in Gaza, making it nearly impossible for humanitarian agencies to operate without putting staff and civilians at risk, the U.N. food agency said.

The U.N. World Food Program said on Thursday that a convoy of 70 trucks from Kerem Shalom was waiting for personnel to protect food and other aid destined for central Gaza on Wednesday, as Israeli troops were reported to be at a nearby humanitarian launched an attack on the communist zone.

The WFP said it currently estimates that more than 50 people were killed in the attack, including civilians and local security personnel who were responsible for ensuring the safety of the convoy.

The Rome-based agency said the convoy was forced to travel from Kerem Shalom to central Gaza without any security arrangements, using the Philadelphia Corridor, an Israeli-controlled route that had recently been approved And used it successfully twice.

The WFP said conflict and insecurity caused the convoy to lose contact for more than 12 hours while en route. “Eventually, the truck was found but had been looted of all food and aid supplies,” the U.N. agency said.

In a second incident, Israeli soldiers approached a WFP convoy entering central Gaza from the Kisufim crossing, fired warning shots, conducted extensive security checks and temporarily detained the driver and staff, the agency said. .

“Four of the five trucks were lost due to violent armed robberies due to truck delays,” the WFP said.

UN chief urges Israel to stop attacks on Syria

UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations chief has a message for Israel: Stop the attack on Syria.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Thursday that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was particularly concerned about hundreds of Israeli air strikes on multiple locations in Syria and stressed the “urgent need to reduce violence on all fronts across the country.”

The Israeli military said on Tuesday it had launched more than 350 attacks in Syria in the past 48 hours, hitting “a large part of the country’s strategic weapons stockpile” to prevent them from falling into the hands of extremists.

Israel has also acknowledged that it is entering a buffer zone inside Syria after last week’s overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad. The buffer zone was established after Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1973 war.

Dujarric said Guterres condemned all violations of the 1974 ceasefire agreement between the two countries, which is still in force today. The spokesman said the UN chief called on all parties to abide by the agreement, end “all unauthorized presence in the area of ​​separation” and refrain from any actions that would undermine the ceasefire and stability in the Golan Heights.