The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 5 letter word HAIFA
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
H
A
I
F
A
More clues leading to the result HAIFA
- Port has its fans — I must be the latest to be included among those
- Middle Eastern city in Doha, I fancy
- 50% of 50% providing a city in the Middle East
- City integral to Bahai faith
- Bertha, if asked, provides port
- Yorkshire town briefly having left out Mediterranean port
- Port of Omaha, if asked
- Seaside city Mafia henchmen hold up
- A poem written in middle of that Israeli city
- Aloha — if arriving outside this port!
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Middle Eastern city" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case middle eastern city = haifa.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.