By David Ljunggren, Michel Rose and Alistair Smout

OTTAWA/PARIS/LONDON (Reuters) -When Spain, Ireland and Norway announced in May 2024 that they would recognise a Palestinian state, Israel's closer allies dismissed the move as unhelpful to solving the crisis in Gaza.

While France, Britain and Canada stressed their support for establishing two states with recognised borders as the long-term solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, they were wary of being seen to reward Hamas, of damaging relations with Israel and Washington, and of squandering diplomatic capital.

ANKARA (Reuters) -The migration route from Libya across the Mediterranean, used by thousands seeking a way to get to Europe, was a top issue at a meeting on Friday between the leaders of Turkey, Italy and Libya in Istanbul, Turkey's presidency said.

President Tayyip Erdogan met Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah to discuss migration and other potential cooperation areas.

France said Friday it would suspend a programme receiving Palestinians from conflict-torn Gaza until an investigation into how a student accused of sharing antisemitic posts was allowed into the country was concluded.

The move comes after officials said the female student from Gaza would have to leave France after the Sciences Po university in the northern city of Lille revoked her accreditation over the online posts.

"No evacuation of any kind will take place until we have drawn conclusions from this investigation," Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot told Franceinfo radio.

GAZA CITY (Reuters) -Stroking the hair of her emaciated daughter on a hospital bed in Gaza City, Nasma Ayad fears time is running out for a medical evacuation of the malnourished eight-year-old to avoid the fate of her sister, who died last month.

"I feel I'm slowly losing my daughter, day after day - everything she's suffering from is multiplying," Ayad said.

By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Charlotte Greenfield

CAIRO/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy became the first high profile U.S. official to visit Gaza since the war began, touring a U.S.-backed aid operation on Friday that the United Nations says is partly to blame for deadly conditions in the enclave.

By Riham Alkousaa

BERLIN (Reuters) — German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul sought to tone down previous comments about his country's position on Palestinian statehood during a trip to the West Bank on Friday, saying Germany had no immediate plans to recognise a Palestinian state.

Wadephul's comment followed sharp criticism from Israeli officials over his earlier suggestion, before he left for the trip, that Germany could respond to any unilateral Israeli actions with recognition of a Palestinian state.

PARIS (Reuters) -France on Friday started to air-drop 40 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Gaza as it urged Israel to allow full access to the area which it said was slipping into famine.

"Faced with the absolute urgency, we have just conducted a food airdrop operation in Gaza. Thank you to our Jordanian, Emirati, and German partners for their support, and to our military personnel for their commitment," President Emmanuel Macron wrote on social media platform X.

"Airdrops are not enough. Israel must open full humanitarian access to address the risk of famine," he added.

BEIRUT (Reuters) -Syria has pledged to investigate clashes in the southern province of Sweida which killed hundreds of people last month -the second major episode of sectarian violence since the ouster of longtime Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.

In a decree dated July 31, justice minister Muzher al-Wais said a committee of seven people - including judges, lawyers and a military official - would look into the circumstances that led to the "events in Sweida" and report back within three months.

President Donald Trump's special envoy promised a plan to deliver more food to Gaza after inspecting a US-backed distribution centre on Friday, as the United Nations said Israeli forces had killed hundreds of hungry Palestinians waiting for aid over the past two months.

The visit by US envoy Steve Witkoff came as a report from global advocacy group Human Rights Watch accused Israeli forces of presiding over "regular bloodbaths" close to aid points run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

(Corrects Jana Ayad's age to 7 years old (from 5) in story that ran on June 24, 2024)

By Mohammad Salem

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (Reuters) -Medics in Gaza said on Monday they were working to step up screening of young children for severe malnutrition amid fears that hunger is spreading as people flee to new areas.

Aid group International Medical Corps (IMC) and partners are planning to reach more than 200,000 children under five-years-old as part of a "Find and Treat" campaign over coming months, one of its doctors, Munawwar Said, told Reuters by phone.