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Morocco to Prolong Wheat Import Campaign in January-April 

An ear of wheat is seen during a harvesting in a field near the village Kyshchentsi, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Cherkasy region, Ukraine July 18, 2023. (Reuters)
An ear of wheat is seen during a harvesting in a field near the village Kyshchentsi, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Cherkasy region, Ukraine July 18, 2023. (Reuters)
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Morocco to Prolong Wheat Import Campaign in January-April 

An ear of wheat is seen during a harvesting in a field near the village Kyshchentsi, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Cherkasy region, Ukraine July 18, 2023. (Reuters)
An ear of wheat is seen during a harvesting in a field near the village Kyshchentsi, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Cherkasy region, Ukraine July 18, 2023. (Reuters)

Morocco will offer subsidies to import up to 2.5 million metric tons of soft wheat between Jan. 1 and April 30, 2024, state grains agency ONICL said, as the North African country pursues an import program to offset drought-affected local production.

The January to April import scheme was approved by Morocco's finance and agriculture ministries, with subsidy details to be published separately, ONICL said in a note on its website.

After drought reduced its domestic wheat crop for a second year, Morocco launched an import program for the 2023/24 season covering up to 2.5 million tons for July to September, followed by a second round for October to December allowing up to 2 million tons.

Traders had expected the import campaign to continue after shipments so far this season lagged volumes available under the subsidy schemes, and with low rainfall again creating uncertainty about Morocco's next harvest.

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Washington Urges Israel to Extend Cooperation with Palestinian Banks

A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
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Washington Urges Israel to Extend Cooperation with Palestinian Banks

A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)
A West Bank Jewish settlement is seen in the background, while a protestor waves a Palestinian flag during a protest against Israel's separation barrier in the West Bank village of Bilin in 2012. (AP)

The United States on Thursday called on Israel to extend its cooperation with Palestinian banks for another year, to avoid blocking vital transactions in the occupied West Bank.

"I am glad that Israel has allowed its banks to continue cooperating with Palestinian banks, but I remain convinced that a one-year extension of the waiver to facilitate this cooperation is needed," US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday, on the sidelines of a meeting of G20 finance ministers in Rio de Janeiro.

In May, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened to cut off a vital banking channel between Israel and the West Bank in response to three European countries recognizing the State of Palestine.

On June 30, however, Smotrich extended a waiver that allows cooperation between Israel's banking system and Palestinian banks in the occupied West Bank for four months, according to Israeli media, according to AFP.

The Times of Israel newspaper reported that the decision on the waiver was made at a cabinet meeting in a "move that saw Israel legalize several West Bank settlement outposts."

The waiver was due to expire at the end of June, and the extension permitted Israeli banks to process payments for salaries and services to the Palestinian Authority in shekels, averting a blow to a Palestinian economy already devastated by the war in Gaza.

The Israeli threat raised serious concerns in the United States, which said at the time it feared "a humanitarian crisis" if banking ties were cut.

According to Washington, these banking channels are key to nearly $8 billion of imports from Israel to the West Bank, including electricity, water, fuel and food.