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Lavrentyev in Türkiye to Discuss Progress in ‘Normalization’ of Ties with Syria

Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Nuh Yilmaz held discussions with Lavrentyev at the Turkish Foreign Ministry headquarters on Saturday. (Turkish Foreign Ministry - “X”)
Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Nuh Yilmaz held discussions with Lavrentyev at the Turkish Foreign Ministry headquarters on Saturday. (Turkish Foreign Ministry - “X”)
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Lavrentyev in Türkiye to Discuss Progress in ‘Normalization’ of Ties with Syria

Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Nuh Yilmaz held discussions with Lavrentyev at the Turkish Foreign Ministry headquarters on Saturday. (Turkish Foreign Ministry - “X”)
Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Nuh Yilmaz held discussions with Lavrentyev at the Turkish Foreign Ministry headquarters on Saturday. (Turkish Foreign Ministry - “X”)

Russia continues its endeavors as part of an initiative to facilitate rapprochement between Türkiye and Syria and to restore normal relations between the two.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's special envoy to Syria, Alexander Lavrentyev, visited Ankara to conduct consultations on the Syrian file.
According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Nuh Yilmaz met with Lavrenyev on Saturday at the ministry’s headquarters in Ankara, in the presence of the relevant bodies concerned with the Syrian file in the two countries.
The Russian official had previously visited Damascus on June 26, and held discussions with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over moves aimed at restoring normal relations with Ankara.
Assad expressed his readiness to respond to the initiatives proposed in this regard within the framework of Syria’s sovereignty.
Lavrentyev’s discussions with Ankara came a day after the Russian Reconciliation Center in Syria, affiliated with the Russian Ministry of Defense, announced the completion of the construction of a new Russian-Syrian military base in Ayn al-Arab (Kobani).
On Friday, the Russian TASS news agency quoted the director of the Russian Center for Reconciliation in Syria, Navy Colonel Oleg Ignasyuk, as saying that measures are ongoing to monitor the cessation of combat operations between the warring parties. He was referring to the Sochi Understanding signed between Ankara and Moscow on Oct. 22, 2019.
According to the understanding, Turkish and Russian forces conducted joint patrols in areas controlled by the SDF in northern Syria, including Ayn al-Arab.
Turkish Political Analyst Namik Durukan considered the establishment of the Russian base in Ain al-Arab as a remarkable step before an agreement is reached to hold a meeting between the Turkish and Syrian presidents, under Russian sponsorship.

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UN Agency Closes the Rest of Its Gaza Bakeries as Food Supplies Dwindle under Israeli Blockade

Palestinians receive bags of flour and other humanitarian aid distributed by UNRWA, the UN agency helping Palestinian refugees in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians receive bags of flour and other humanitarian aid distributed by UNRWA, the UN agency helping Palestinian refugees in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP)
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UN Agency Closes the Rest of Its Gaza Bakeries as Food Supplies Dwindle under Israeli Blockade

Palestinians receive bags of flour and other humanitarian aid distributed by UNRWA, the UN agency helping Palestinian refugees in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP)
Palestinians receive bags of flour and other humanitarian aid distributed by UNRWA, the UN agency helping Palestinian refugees in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip on Tuesday, April 1, 2025. (AP)

The UN food agency is closing all of its bakeries in the Gaza Strip, officials said Tuesday, as food supplies dwindle after Israel sealed the territory off from all imports nearly a month ago.

Israel, which tightened its blockade and later resumed its offensive in order to pressure Hamas into accepting changes to their ceasefire agreement, said that enough food entered Gaza during the six-week truce to sustain the territory's roughly 2 million Palestinians.

Markets largely emptied weeks ago, and UN. agencies say the supplies they built up during the truce are running out. Gaza is heavily reliant on international aid, because the war has destroyed almost all of its food production capability.

Mohammed al-Kurd, a father of 12, said that his children go to bed without dinner.

“We tell them to be patient and that we will bring flour in the morning,” he said. “We lie to them and to ourselves.”

A World Food Program memo circulated to aid groups on Monday said that it could no longer operate its remaining bakeries, which produce the pita bread on which many rely. The UN agency said that it was prioritizing its remaining stocks to provide emergency food aid and expand hot meal distribution. WFP spokespeople didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.

Olga Cherevko, a spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said that the WFP was closing its remaining 19 bakeries after shuttering six others last month. She said that hundreds of thousands of people relied on them.

The Israeli military body in charge of Palestinian affairs, known as COGAT, said that more than 25,000 trucks entered Gaza during the ceasefire, carrying nearly 450,000 tons of aid. It said that amount represented around a third of what has entered during the entire war.

“There is enough food for a long period of time, if Hamas lets the civilians have it,” it said.

UN agencies and aid groups say that they struggled to bring in and distribute aid before the ceasefire took hold in January. Their estimates for how much aid actually reached people in Gaza were consistently lower than COGAT’s, which were based on how much entered through border crossings.

The war began when Hamas-led fighters attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 hostages. Hamas is still holding 59 captives — 24 of whom are believed to be alive — after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Israel's offensive has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, including hundreds killed in strikes since the ceasefire ended, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which doesn't say whether those killed in the war are civilians or combatants. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.

Israel sealed off Gaza from all aid at the start of the war, but later relented under pressure from Washington. US President Donald Trump's administration, which took credit for helping to broker the ceasefire, has expressed full support for Israel's actions, including its decision to end the truce.

Israel has demanded that Hamas release several hostages before commencing talks on ending the war, negotiations that were supposed to have begun in early February. It has also insisted that Hamas disarm and leave Gaza, conditions that weren't part of the ceasefire agreement.

Hamas has called for implementing the agreement, in which the remaining hostages would be released in exchange for the release of more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli pullout.