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.

Here's the latest:

CAIRO — Israeli attacks in and around a hospital in northern Gaza wounded three medical staff overnight into Friday and caused damage to the isolated medical facility, according to its director.

Dr. Hossam Abu Safiya said Israeli quadcopter drones carrying explosives deliberately targeted the emergency and reception area of Kamal Adwan Hospital, where one doctor was wounded for a third time.

Abu Safiya said “relentless” drone and artillery strikes throughout the night exploded “alarmingly close” to the hospital, heavily damaging nearby buildings and destroying most of the water tanks on the hospital’s roof and blowing out doors and windows.

Kamal Adwan Hospital in the town of Beit Lahiya has been hit multiple times over the past two months since Israel launched a fierce military operation against Hamas in northern Gaza.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the strikes.

“We demand international protection for the hospital and its staff,” Abu Safiya said in a statement released via the U.K.-based aid group Medical Aid for Palestinians, “as well as the entry of delegations with surgical expertise, medical supplies, and essential medications to ensure we can adequately serve the people we are treating.”

Abu Safiya said there were 72 wounded patients at the hospital, one of the few medical facilities left in northern Gaza. He said he expected Israeli forces would allow a World Health Organization aid convoy to bring supplies to the hospital on Friday or Saturday, as well as a team of doctors from Indonesia.

Israel has allowed almost no humanitarian or medical aid to enter the three besieged communities in northern Gaza — Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and the urban Jabaliya refugee camp — and ordered tens of thousands to flee to nearby Gaza City.

Israeli officials have said the three communities are mostly deserted, but the United Nations humanitarian office said Tuesday it believes around 65,000 to 75,000 people are still there, with little access to food, water, electricity or health care. Experts have warned that the north may be experiencing famine.

BAGHDAD — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made an unannounced stop in Iraq on Friday on his latest visit to the Middle East aimed at stabilizing the situation in Syria to prevent further regional turmoil.

Blinken met in Baghdad with Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed al-Sudani as part of the hastily arranged trip, his 12th to the region since the Israel-Hamas war erupted last year but his first since the weekend ouster of Syrian strongman Bashar Assad.

Blinken has already been to Jordan and Turkey on his current tour and will return to Jordan for urgent meetings on Saturday with Arab foreign ministers to try to unify support for an inclusive post-Assad transition that does not allow the Islamic State group to take advantage of the political vacuum in Syria and secures suspected chemical weapons stocks.

In Baghdad, Blinken “will underscore U.S. commitment to the U.S.-Iraq strategic partnership and to Iraq’s security, stability, and sovereignty,” the State Department said.

“He will also discuss regional security opportunities and challenges, as well as enduring U.S. support for engagement with all communities in Syria to establish an inclusive transition,” it said in a statement.

His trip comes as the Biden administration winds down with just over a month left before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. Trump has been highly critical of Biden’s approach to the Middle East and skeptical of the U.S. military presence in both Iraq and Syria.

The U.S. and Iraq agreed in September to wrap up U.S.-led military operations against the Islamic State in Iraq next year, although Assad’s ouster and the potential for the group taking advantage of a political vacuum in Syria could complicate the timing of the withdrawal, according to American officials.

DAMASCUS — The kingdom of Bahrain sent a message Friday to Ahmad al-Sharaa, formerly known as Abu Mohammed al-Golani, the leader of the insurgency that toppled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

It said Bahrain is “fully prepared to consult with you continuously and to provide support in regional and international organizations to achieve what is in the interest of the brotherly Syrian people.”

It added, “We look forward to Syria regaining its authentic role in the Arab League.” Bahrain is the current head of the Arab summit.

Syria was readmitted to the Arab League last year after 12 years of ostracization. It is still unclear how the international community will deal officially with the new interim government in Syria.

JERUSALEM - Israel’s defense minister told troops to prepare to remain through the winter months on the peak of Mount Hermon, Syria’s highest point, located in a swath of southern Syria that Israeli troops moved into after the fall of Damascus to insurgents.

The comments by Defense Minister Israel Katz signaled that the military will extend its occupation of the zone along the border, which Israel says it seized to create a buffer zone.

In a statement Friday, Katz said that holding the peak was of major importance for Israel’s security and that it would be necessary to build facilities there to sustain troops through the winter.

The summit of Mount Hermon, the highest peak on the eastern Mediterranean coast at 2,814 meters (9,232 feet), gives a commanding view over the plains of southern Syria. It also positions Israeli troops about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the center of Damascus. The mount is divided between the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, Lebanon and Syria. Only the United States recognizes Israel’s control of the Golan Heights.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israeli troops would remain in the zone until another force across the border in Syria could guarantee security. Israeli troops moved into the zone -– set as a demilitarized area inside Syrian territory under truce deals that ended the 1973 Mideast war -- after the regime of Bashar al-Assad fell last weekend.

ANKARA, Turkey -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday there was “broad agreement” between Turkey and the United States on what they would like to see in Syria following the ouster of President Bashar Assad.

“There’s broad agreement on what we would like to see going forward, starting with the interim government in Syria, one that is inclusive and non-sectarian and one that protects the rights of minorities and women” and does not “pose any kind of threat to any of Syria’s neighbors,” Blinken said in joint statements with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan.

The insurgent groups that toppled Assad in Syria have not made clear their policy or stance on Israel, whose military in recent days has bombed sites all over the country, saying it is trying to prevent weapons from falling into extremist hands.

Blinken also said it was crucial to keep the Islamic State group under control.

“We also discussed the imperative of continuing the efforts to keep ISIS down. Our countries worked very hard and gave a lot over many years to ensure the elimination of the territorial caliphate of ISIS to ensure that that threat doesn’t rear its head again,” Blinken said.

The Turkish foreign minister said the two discussed ways of establishing prosperity in Syria and ending terrorism in the country.

“Our priority is establishing stability in Syria as soon as possible, preventing terrorism from gaining ground, and ensuring that IS and the PKK aren’t dominant,” Fidan said, in a reference to the banned Kurdistan Workers Party.

Blinken said: “We’re very focused on Syria, very focused on the opportunity that now is before us and before the Syrian people to move from out from under the shackles of Bashar al-Assad to a different and better future for the Syrian people, one that the Syrian people decide for themselves.”

Blinken and Fidan said they had also discussed a ceasefire for Gaza.

“We’ve seen in the last couple of weeks more encouraging signs that (a ceasefire) is possible,” Blinken said.

Blinken, who is making his 12th trip to the Mideast since the Israel-Hamas war erupted last year but first since the weekend ouster of Assad, met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan late Thursday.

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.

Later Friday, Blinken is to return to Jordan for meetings on Saturday with Arab foreign ministers and senior officials from the European Union, the Arab League and the United Nations.

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.

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 communication 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.

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 remain 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.

A Palestinian child injured in an Israeli strike on a building arrives at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Relatives of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and their supporters protest outside of the U.S. Embassy branch office during a visit by White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan to call for an immediate hostage release deal, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

A Palestinian boy pushes a wheelchair carrying jerrycans and plastic bottles with water at a camp for displaced people in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Syrians wait to cross into Syria from Turkey at the Oncupinar border gate, near the town of Kilis, southern Turkey, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Khalil Hamra)

A man rides his motorcycle past shops and stores that, according to locals, have been destroyed for been used or owned by Bashar Assad's supporters, in Damascus, Syria, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Turkish charity organisation Fetih distributes bread at the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp inn the outskirts of Damascus Thursday Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Israeli soldiers stand next to armoured vehicles before crossing the security fence, moving towards the so-called Alpha Line that separates the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights from Syria, in the town of Majdal Shams, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Israeli soldiers with the national flag stand on an armoured vehicle after crossing the security fence near the so-called Alpha Line that separates the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights from Syria, in the town of Majdal Shams, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Matias Delacroix)

Morners attend the funeral procession of Syrian activist Mazen al-Hamada in Damascus Thursday Dec. 12, 2024. Al-Hamad's mangled corpse was found wrapped in a bloody sheet in Saydnaya prison. He had fled to Europe but returned to Syria in 2020 and was imprisoned upon arrival. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

A Syrian man speaks on his mobile phone as stands on the stairs of a damaged building in the town of Harasta, east of Damascus, Syria, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

Syrians gather in celebration days after the fall of Bashar Assad's government at Umayyad Square in Damascus, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

As the newly-named host of the 2034 World Cup in men's soccer, Saudi Arabia says it will construct or renovate 15 stadiums, create a futuristic city and expand airports in a massive buildout to accommodate millions of athletes, coaches and spectators.

That will emit tons of planet-warming greenhouse gases as concrete and steel are manufactured and transported, diesel-powered excavators and trucks move material and new buildings are powered and cooled. When all the emissions associated with the world's buildings are grouped together, they are the largest contributor to climate change.

Constructing so many new venues is “environmentally wasteful in the extreme” because so much carbon will be emitted and scarce resources used, said Andrew Zimbalist, an economics professor at Smith College in Massachusetts who has written several books about the economics of mega sporting events. Zimbalist said the World Cup should be held in countries with a developed soccer culture and industry.

Seth Warren Rose, founding director of the research organization Eneref Institute, said the world will be even hotter a decade from now, and can’t afford this added warming.

“I’m sorry, but we’re living in a different planet. We have to prepare for that,” Rose said. “By 2034, we’ll be living in a different climate and that’s not a metaphor."

Rose said his message to organizers is: Make a genuine effort to reduce emissions or don't host at all.

Saudi Arabia’s plans will rely heavily on concrete, which is responsible for about 8% of worldwide emissions that warm the planet, with iron and steel accounting for another 7%. Human rights groups are concerned that giving the 2034 World Cup to Saudi Arabia will endanger migrant workers.

In a bid book detailing its plans for development across five cities ahead of the World Cup, Saudi Arabia said three new stadiums are currently under construction and eight more are planned, to accommodate 2034's first-ever 48-team games. Buildings constructed for international sporting events often end up becoming “white elephant” venues that sit idle once games are over. The Saudi Arabian Football Federation did not respond to request for comment.

Saudi Arabia has proposed 134 accommodations for teams and referees, new hotels, several fan festival locations, transportation expansions, including high-speed rail and further investment in its futuristic city of Neom. Much of what the nation included in its bid book relates to its Vision 2030 strategic plan, which the government calls a plan to diversify its economy and unlock new business opportunities.

The bid does include sustainability initiatives, said Karim Elgendy, a fellow at London’s Chatham House think tank. Among them are running stadiums on clean electricity such as solar, using energy-efficient natural ventilation and shading and mandating green building standards.

But Elgendy said the sheer scale of Saudi Arabia's apparent plans for the event, plus the distances between host cities suggest this could become the most carbon-intensive World Cup in history. Elgendy said how they mitigate this undertaking will determine the environmental impact and without measures, the event could have a carbon footprint that is almost twice the record set in 2022.

In contrast, organizers of this summer’s Paris Olympics said this week they met their goal of cutting the games’ carbon footprint by half compared to 2012 and 2016. They did this using renewable energy, recycled materials, plant-based food options that are less carbon-intensive than meat and even powering the famous Olympic cauldron with electricity and lights rather than burning gas.

To critics who suggest FIFA ought to have chosen a different host country, like the United Kingdom which has dozens of stadiums, Walker Ross, a researcher of sport ecology and sustainability at the University of Edinburgh points out the Saudi bid was the only one in a fast-tracked process.

The next World Cup, in 2026, will span 16 cities across North America. Ross said that could have a significant carbon footprint, too, as teams and fans travel across an entire continent. The same could be said for the 2030 World Cup to be played across six countries. If anyone is at fault, it's FIFA, he said, because it's their bid process.

“People kind of throw their hands up in the air and act like there are certain countries that should and shouldn’t host when it comes to these events,” he said. “But if this sport is truly for the world, then we have to be open to everyone hosting.”

Qatar went on a $200 billion construction spree, building seven stadiums, a new metro system, highways, high-rise buildings and a new city ahead of the 2022 event there. Organizers and FIFA projected it would produce some 3.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide over the decade spent preparing for the tournament, or about 3% of Qatar’s total emissions in 2019, according to World Bank data. Experts say the Qatar event had the highest carbon emissions to date.

Skeptics and outside experts said Qatar’s accounting that it hosted a ‘carbon neutral’ World Cup didn't encompass the event’s full carbon footprint.

FIFA accepted Saudi Arabia’s sustainability and climate promises in an evaluation released in November, noting that “whilst the extent of construction would have a material environmental impact, the bid provides a good foundation for delivering mitigation measures to address some of the environment-related challenges.”

FIFA directed The Associated Press to the evaluation Thursday when asked for additional comment.

Saudi Arabia's emissions have been growing; it emitted 533 metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2022, or 1.6% of global emissions, according to the International Energy Agency, and its fossil fuel production is skyrocketing. Renewable energy remains nearly nonexistent. The country has a goal to source at least half of its power from renewables by 2030.

“It appears that FIFA has learnt very little from the debacle with the World Cup in Qatar," said Khaled Diab, a spokeperson at Carbon Market Watch.

Read more of AP’s climate coverage at http://www.apnews.com/climate-and-environment

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

FILE - People gather at the King Abdullah Sports City stadium prior to the Soccer Club World Cup match between Al-Ittihad and Auckland City in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Dec. 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)

FILE - The trophy is displayed on the pitch ahead of the World Cup final soccer match between Argentina and France at the Lusail Stadium in Lusail, Qatar, Dec. 18, 2022. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner, File)

FILE - Saudi Arabia fans support their team during the Asian Cup Round of 16 soccer match between Saudi Arabia and South Korea, at the Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar, Jan. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis, File)

FILE - The King Abdullah sports city stadium stands in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020, on the eve of the Spanish Super Cup Final soccer match between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)

FILE - A map at the Saudi Arabia World Cup bid exhibition in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Wednesday Dec. 11, 2024, shows the proposed host cities and venues for the 2034 World Cup. (AP Photo/Baraa Anwer, File)

FILE - A detailed model of Riyadh's proposed sports infrastructure is on display at the Saudi Arabia World Cup bid exhibition in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Dec. 11, 2024. The exhibition highlights the Kingdom's plans for hosting the 2034 World Cup. (AP Photo/Baraa Anwer, File)