Middle East latest: Blinken urges Mideast nations to support a peaceful Syrian political transition

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is pressing ahead with efforts to unify Middle East nations in support of a peaceful political transition in Syria.

He is meeting on Friday with Turkey's foreign minister after talks with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to try to bring Turkey into a consensus to prevent Syria from collapsing into wider turmoil. It's Blinken's 12th trip to the Mideast since the Israel-Hamas war erupted in Gaza last year but 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 heightened tensions in the region and create conditions for the Islamic State group to regain territory and influence.

The fighting between Israel and Hamas has plunged Gaza into a severe humanitarian crisis. Israel’s offensive has killed over 44,800 Palestinians in Gaza, more than half of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not say how many were combatants. The Israeli military says it has killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.

The war in Gaza was sparked by an Oct. 7, 2023, attack by Hamas in southern Israel in which some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed and around 250 others were taken hostage. Some 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.

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Here's the latest:

Blinken seeks to unify Middle East nations in support of a peaceful political transition in Syria

ANKARA — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is wrapping up a visit to Turkey with talks with Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Friday as he presses ahead with efforts to unify Middle East nations in support of a peaceful political transition in Syria.

On the second stop of his latest Mideast trip — his 12th since the Israel-Hamas war erupted last year but first since the weekend ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad — Blinken saw Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan late Thursday to try to bring Turkey into a consensus to prevent Syria from collapsing into wider turmoil.

The outgoing Biden administration is particularly concerned that a power vacuum in Syria could exacerbate already heightened tensions in the region, which is already wracked by multiple conflicts, and create conditions for the Islamic State group to regain territory and influence.

The U.S. has backed a Kurdish rebel group, the Syrian Defense Forces, for years in the anti-Islamic State campaign but Turkey sees it as threat and has repeatedly warned that it could launch major military operations against it.

In his meeting with Erdogan, Blinken stressed the importance of continuing the fight against the Islamic State while also supporting a Syrian transition that protects the rights of women and minorities and moves to secure and destroy suspected chemical weapons stocks.

Blinken “emphasized the need to ensure the coalition to defeat ISIS can continue to execute its critical mission,” the State Department said.

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

Those meetings “will discuss ways to support a comprehensive political process led by Syrians to achieve a transitional process … which meets the aspirations of the brotherly Syrian people, ensures the reconstruction of Syrian state institutions, and preserves Syria’s unity, territorial integrity, sovereignty, security, stability, and the rights of all its citizens,” the Jordanian foreign ministry said.

Turkey to reopen its embassy in Syria

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

The Turkish Embassy in Damascus had suspended operations in 2012 due to the escalating security problems during the Syrian civil war and embassy staff and their families were recalled to Turkey.

The Anadolu Agency said late Thursday that Turkey appointed Burhan Koroglu, its ambassador in Mauritania, to the post.

2 UN aid convoys violently attacked in Gaza, US food agency says

UNITED NATIONS- – Two U.N. aid convoys were violently attacked in Gaza, making it virtually impossible for humanitarian agencies to operate without putting staff and civilians at risk, the U.N. food agency says.

On Wednesday, a 70-truck convoy from Kerem Shalom was waiting for personnel to safeguard the food and other aid destined for central Gaza when there were reported attacks by Israeli forces in the nearby humanitarian zone, the U.N. World Food Program said Thursday.

More than 50 people are now estimated to have died in the attacks, including civilians and local security personnel who had been expected to ensure the convoy’s safety, WFP said.

The Rome-based agency said the convoy was forced to proceed from Kerem Shalom to central Gaza without any security arrangements, using the Philadelphi corridor, an Israeli-controlled route that had been recently approved and successfully utilized twice.

On the way, WFP said, conflict and insecurity led to a loss of communications with the convoy for more than 12 hours. ”Eventually, the trucks were found but all food and aid supplies were looted,” the U.N. agency said.

In a second incident, Israeli soldiers approached a WFP convoy moving out of the Kissufim crossing into central Gaza, fired warning shots, conducted extensive security checks, and temporarily detained drivers and staff, the agency said.

“As the trucks were delayed, four out of the five trucks were lost to violent armed looting,” WFP said.

UN chief urges Israel to stop attacks on Syria

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

Secretary-General António Guterres is particularly concerned about several hundred Israeli airstrikes on several Syrian locations and stresses “the urgent need to de-escalate violence on all fronts throughout the country," U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Thursday.

The Israeli military said Tuesday it carried out more than 350 strikes in Syria over the previous 48 hours, hitting “most of the strategic weapons stockpiles” in the country to stop them from falling into the hands of extremists.

Israel also acknowledged pushing into a buffer zone inside Syria following last week’s overthrow of President Bashar Assad. The buffer zone was established after Israel seized the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1973 war.

Dujarric said Guterres condemns all actions violating the 1974 ceasefire agreement between the two countries that remains in force. And the U.N. chief calls on the parties to uphold the agreement and end “all unauthorized presence in the area of separation” and refrain from any action undermining the ceasefire and stability in the Golan Heights, the spokesman said.