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Israel to Allow Flour Shipments for Gaza Through Key Port

Empty trucks wait on the Gaza border with Egypt at Rafah for the aid trucks to cross from northern Egypt on October 21, 2023, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
Empty trucks wait on the Gaza border with Egypt at Rafah for the aid trucks to cross from northern Egypt on October 21, 2023, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
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Israel to Allow Flour Shipments for Gaza Through Key Port

Empty trucks wait on the Gaza border with Egypt at Rafah for the aid trucks to cross from northern Egypt on October 21, 2023, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
Empty trucks wait on the Gaza border with Egypt at Rafah for the aid trucks to cross from northern Egypt on October 21, 2023, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)

Israel will let shipments of flour for Palestinians through the Israeli port of Ashdod, north of Gaza, the White House said Friday after President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke.

The move comes days after the UN called on Israel to allow access to the port for the urgent delivery of humanitarian aid for Gaza, besieged since the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.

"The president welcomed the decision from the Government of Israel to permit the shipment of flour for the Palestinian people directly through Ashdod port," the White House said in a readout of their call.

US teams would "separately work on options for more direct maritime delivery of assistance into Gaza," it added.

Washington has backed Israel's offensive against Gaza since the Hamas attacks on October 7 while also calling on the Israelis to let in more aid to Palestinian civilians.

Three UN agencies -- the World Food Program (WFP), UNICEF and the World Health Organisation (WHO) -- pushed for the opening of Ashdod in a joint statement on Monday.

The use of Ashdod, located some 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of the Gaza border, is "critically needed by aid agencies," they said, while calling for a "fundamental step change in the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza."

The Israel-Hamas war has sparked a humanitarian catastrophe for Gaza's 2.4 million people, who are struggling to get food, water, fuel and medical care.

Opening the Ashdod port would reduce the time it takes to transport food to Gazans from the north, WFP's regional director for the Middle East, Corinne Fleischer, told AFP earlier this month.

In December, Israel approved the temporary delivery of aid into Gaza via its southern Kerem Shalom border crossing, opening a new route for supplies after weeks of pressure.

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Blinken Seeks to Avert Syria Turmoil with Europeans on Final Trip

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) met French FM Jean-Noel Barrot in Paris. Ludovic MARIN / POOL/AFP
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) met French FM Jean-Noel Barrot in Paris. Ludovic MARIN / POOL/AFP
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Blinken Seeks to Avert Syria Turmoil with Europeans on Final Trip

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) met French FM Jean-Noel Barrot in Paris. Ludovic MARIN / POOL/AFP
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) met French FM Jean-Noel Barrot in Paris. Ludovic MARIN / POOL/AFP

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was heading on Thursday to Rome for talks with European counterparts on bringing stability to Syria in the face of flare-ups with Türkiye, capping what is likely his final trip.
Blinken had been expected to remain in Italy through the weekend to join President Joe Biden but the outgoing US leader scrapped his trip, which was to include an audience with Pope Francis, to address wildfires sweeping Los Angeles.
Blinken, on a trip that has taken him to South Korea, Japan and France, was heading on Thursday from Paris and will meet for dinner in Rome with counterparts from Britain, France, Germany and Italy.
In Paris on Wednesday, Blinken said the United States was united with the Europeans on seeking a peaceful, stable Syria, a month after the opposition factions toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad.
But concerns have mounted over Türkiye’s threats against Syrian Kurdish fighters, who have effectively run their own state during the brutal civil war engulfing Syria.
A war monitor said that battles between Turkish-backed groups, supported by air strikes, and Kurdish-led forces killed 37 people on Thursday.
The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) have worked with the United States on Washington's main stated priority -- battling the ISIS extremist group -- but Türkiye says the SDF has links with PKK militants at home.
Blinken in Paris said that Türkiye had "legitimate concerns" and that the SDF should gradually be integrated into a revamped national army, with foreign fighters removed.
"That's a process that's going to take some time. And in the meantime, what is profoundly not in the interest of everything positive we see happening in Syria would be a conflict," Blinken told reporters.
"We'll work very hard to make sure that that doesn't happen."
Blinken said he expected no change on goals in Syria from US President-elect Donald Trump, who takes over on January 20.
During his last term, Trump briefly said he would accede to a plea by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to pull out US troops that have been working in Syria with the Kurdish forces.
But he backed down after counter-appeals led by French President Emmanuel Macron.
When to ease sanctions?
Also on the agenda in Rome will be whether and when to ease sanctions on Syria.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Wednesday that some sanctions "could be lifted quickly".
The US Treasury Department said this week it would ease enforcement on restrictions that affect essential services.
But US officials say they will wait to see progress before any wider easing of sanctions -- and the Biden administration is unlikely in its final days to accept the political costs of removing Syria's victorious Hayat Tahrir al-Sham rebels from the US "terrorism" blacklist.
While Western powers are largely in synch on Syria, some differences remain.
Blinken reiterated US calls on European countries to repatriate citizens of theirs detained in Syria for working with the ISIS group and languishing in vast camps run by the Kurdish fighters.
France and Britain, with painful memories of attacks by homegrown extremists, have little desire to bring militants back.
The Rome talks come a week after the French and German foreign ministers, Jean-Noel Barrot and Annalena Baerbock, jointly visited Damascus and met new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa to encourage an inclusive transition.
Sharaa, has promised to protect minorities after the fall of the iron-fisted but largely secular Assad.
A senior US official in turn said last month on meeting Sharaa that Washington was dropping a $10-million bounty on his head.
Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani will pay his own visit to Syria on Friday, during which he plans to announce an initial development aid package.
Italy's hard-right government has pledged to reduce immigration. Millions of Syrians sought asylum in Europe during the civil war, triggering a backlash in some parts of the continent that shook up European politics.
In contrast to other major European powers, Italy had moved to normalize ties with Assad just weeks before he fell, presuming at the time that he had effectively won the war.