ANKARA: Turkish authorities have blocked a convoy carrying aid to Kobani, a predominantly Kurdish town in northern Syria encircled by the Syrian army, NGOs and a Turkish MP said on Saturday.
They said the aid was blocked before it reached the Turkiye-Syria border, despite an agreement announced on Friday between the Syrian government and the country’s Kurdish minority to gradually integrate the Kurds’ military and civilian institutions into the state.
Twenty-five lorries containing water, milk, baby formula and blankets collected in Diyarbakir, the main city in Turkiye’s predominantly Kurdish southeast, “were prevented from crossing the border,” said the Diyarbakir Solidarity and Protection Platform, which organized the aid campaign.
“Blocking humanitarian aid trucks carrying basic necessities is unacceptable, both from the point of view of humanitarian law and from the point of view of moral responsibility,” said the platform, which brings together several NGOs.
Earlier this week, residents of Kobani told AFP they were running out of food, water and electricity because the city was overwhelmed with people fleeing the advance of the Syrian army.
Kurdish forces accused the Syrian army of imposing a siege on Kobani, also known as Ain Al-Arab in Arabic.
“The trucks are still waiting in a depot on the highway,” said Adalet Kaya, an MP from Turkiye’s pro-Kurdish DEM party who was accompanying the convoy.
“We will continue negotiations today. We hope they will be able to cross at the Mursitpinar border post,” he told AFP.
Mursitpinar is located on the Turkish side of the border, across from Kobani.
Turkish authorities have kept the border crossing closed since 2016, while occasionally opening it briefly to allow humanitarian aid to pass through.
DEM and Turkiye’s main opposition CHP called this week for Mursitpinar to be opened “to avoid a humanitarian tragedy.”
Turkish authorities said aid convoys should use the Oncupinar border crossing, 180 kilometers (110 miles) away.
“It’s not just a question of distance. We want to be sure the aid reaches Kobani and is not redirected elsewhere by Damascus, which has imposed a siege,” said Kaya.
After months of deadlock and fighting, Damascus and the Syrian Kurds announced an agreement on Friday that would see the forces and administration of Syria’s Kurdish autonomous region gradually integrated into the Syrian state.
Kobani is around 200 kilometers from the Kurds’ stronghold in Syria’s far northeast.
Kurdish forces liberated the city from a lengthy siege by the Daesh group in 2015 and it took on symbolic value as their first major victory against the militants.
Kobani is hemmed in by the Turkish border to the north and government forces on all sides, pending the entry into the force of Friday’s agreement.
Turkiye blocks aid convoy to Syria’s Kobani: NGOs
https://arab.news/bbdn3
Turkiye blocks aid convoy to Syria’s Kobani: NGOs
- They said the aid was blocked before it reached the Turkiye-Syria border
- “Blocking humanitarian aid trucks carrying basic necessities is unacceptable,” said the platform
Israel to partially reopen Gaza’s Rafah crossing
- Reopening comes amid ongoing violence in the Palestinian territory
- Gaza’s civil defense agency says dozens killed in Israeli attacks on Saturday
RAFAH, Palestinian Territories: Israel is set to partially reopen the Rafah crossing between the war-devastated Gaza Strip and Egypt on Sunday, following months of urging from humanitarian organizations, though access will be limited to the movement of people.
The reopening comes amid ongoing violence in the Palestinian territory, with Gaza’s civil defense agency reporting dozens killed in Israeli attacks on Saturday, while the Israeli military said it was retaliating against ceasefire violations.
The Rafah crossing is a vital gateway for both civilians and aid, but has remained closed since Israeli forces seized control of it in May 2024 during the war with Hamas, aside from a brief and limited reopening in early 2025.
Israel had previously said it would not reopen the crossing until the remains of Ran Gvili — the last Israeli hostage held in Gaza — were returned.
His remains were recovered days ago and he was laid to rest in Israel on Wednesday.
“The Rafah Crossing will open this coming Sunday (February 1st) in both directions, for limited movement of people only,” COGAT, an Israeli defense ministry body overseeing civil affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories, said on Friday.
Entry and exit “will be permitted in coordination with Egypt, following prior security clearance of individuals by Israel, and under the supervision of the European Union mission,” it added.
However, key details remain unclear, including how many people will be allowed to cross and whether those seeking to return to Gaza will be permitted entry.
A source at the border told AFP that Sunday would be largely devoted to preparations and logistical arrangements.
The crossing is set to open on Sunday on a trial basis to allow the passage of wounded individuals, ahead of a regular reopening scheduled for Monday, three sources at the crossing said.
However, no agreement has yet been reached on the number of Palestinians permitted to enter or exit, the sources added, noting that Egypt plans to admit “all Palestinians whom Israel authorizes to leave” the territory.
“Every day that passes drains my life and worsens my condition,” said Mohammed Shamiya, 33, who suffers from kidney disease and requires dialysis treatment abroad.
“I’m waiting every moment for the opening of the Rafah land crossing.”
Anxious wait
Safa Al-Hawajri, who has received a scholarship to study overseas, is also eagerly awaiting the reopening on Sunday.
“I’m waiting in the hope of fulfilling my ambition, which is tied to the reopening of the crossing,” said Hawajri, 18.
“I hope to be able to travel as soon as it opens.”
Located on Gaza’s southern border with Egypt, Rafah is the only crossing into and out of the territory that does not pass through Israel.
The crossing lies in an area held by Israeli forces following their withdrawal behind the so-called “Yellow Line” under the terms of a US-brokered ceasefire that came into effect on October 10.
Israeli troops still control more than half of Gaza, while the rest remains under Hamas authority.
The ceasefire has now entered its second phase and calls for reopening the crossing following the release or return of all Israeli hostages held by Palestinian militants.
Hamas had called for its full reopening in both directions after the remains of Gvili were brought back to Israel.
The reopening is expected to facilitate the entry of a 15-member Palestinian technocratic body, the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza (NCAG), established to oversee the day-to-day governance of the territory’s 2.2 million residents.
The committee is to operate under the supervision of the so-called “Board of Peace” chaired by US President Donald Trump.
The NCAG, headed by former Palestinian Authority deputy minister Ali Shaath, is expected to enter the Gaza Strip once the Rafah crossing reopens.
Violence continued ahead of the crossing’s reopening.
At least 32 people, including children, were killed on Saturday in Israeli air strikes in Gaza, reported the civil defense agency, which operates as a rescue force under the Hamas authority.
Israel’s military said the strikes were retaliation for an incident on Friday in which eight Palestinian fighters exited a tunnel in the city of Rafah, which it said violated the ceasefire.
