Egypt, Libya Aim to End Political Stalemate

The head of the Government of National Unity (GNU), Abdulhamid Dbeibeh, with the Egyptian delegation (GNU)
The head of the Government of National Unity (GNU), Abdulhamid Dbeibeh, with the Egyptian delegation (GNU)
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Egypt, Libya Aim to End Political Stalemate

The head of the Government of National Unity (GNU), Abdulhamid Dbeibeh, with the Egyptian delegation (GNU)
The head of the Government of National Unity (GNU), Abdulhamid Dbeibeh, with the Egyptian delegation (GNU)

An Egyptian high-level intelligence delegation arrived in Libya to discuss cooperation with the Government of National Unity (GNU), chaired by Abdulhamid Dbeibeh.

Dbeibeh's media office announced Thursday that he had met a high-ranking Egyptian intelligence delegation and officials as part of a visit to end the political stalemate.

Libyan political analyst Idris Ahmeed described the visit as "important" and a shift in security cooperation between Cairo and Tripoli.

The two parties discussed the results of the Egyptian-Libyan joint committee, launched two years ago, during which Dbeibeh met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.

After the meeting, Dbeibeh discussed in separate meetings with government representatives launching projects implemented by the consortium of Egyptian companies after assigning construction sites, completing employment procedures, and equipping their headquarters.

The consortium comprises Orascom Construction, Pioneers of Modern Engineering, and Hassan Allam Construction.

The two parties also discussed the steps taken by Egypt to facilitate visas for Libyan citizens.

Earlier, Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry discussed the recent development with his Libyan counterpart, Naglaa al-Mangoush, during the Arab ministerial preparatory meeting for the Arab League Summit.

Observers said the meeting aimed to end the stalemate in the relations between Egypt and Libya after the September 2022 incident when Shoukry withdrew from the inaugural session of the Arab League meeting at the level of foreign ministers in protest against Mangoush, who was presiding it.

Meanwhile, Libyan Minister of Transportation Mohamed Salem al-Shahoubi reviewed air transport between the two countries with the Deputy Head of the Egyptian Civil Aviation Authority, Essam Kishk.

Shahoubi praised the "satisfactory" rate and number of flights between Egypt and Libya after they stopped entirely in 2021.

Furthermore, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya and Head of UNSMIL, Abdoulaye Bathily, received a GNU liaison team headed by the Minister of State for Communication and Political Affairs, Walid al-Lafi.

The liaison team presented a cooperation proposal in support of the electoral process.

The meeting addressed supporting the cooperation between the government and UNSMIL to implement several programs that contribute to the success of the expected electoral process.

Bathily and the UNMSIL team were briefed on the efforts of the GNU Ministerial Committee to Support Elections and the various activities implemented in coordination with the High National Elections Commission.

Lafi also touched on the government's efforts to establish the General Authority for Monitoring Media Content to provide a safer media environment for elections.



Palestinians Say 100,000 Residents Trapped in Israel’s North Gaza Offensive

A picture shows the damage to an ambulance at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia the northern Gaza Strip on October 26, 2024 amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
A picture shows the damage to an ambulance at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia the northern Gaza Strip on October 26, 2024 amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
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Palestinians Say 100,000 Residents Trapped in Israel’s North Gaza Offensive

A picture shows the damage to an ambulance at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia the northern Gaza Strip on October 26, 2024 amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
A picture shows the damage to an ambulance at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia the northern Gaza Strip on October 26, 2024 amid the ongoing war in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)

Israeli tanks thrust deeper on Monday into two north Gaza towns and a historic refugee camp, trapping around 100,000 civilians, the Palestinian emergency service said, in what the military said were operations to eliminate regrouping Hamas fighters.

The Israeli military said soldiers captured around 100 suspected Hamas fighters in a raid into Kamal Adwan Hospital in the Jabalia camp. Hamas and medics have denied any militant presence at the hospital.

The Gaza Strip's health ministry said at least 19 people were killed by Israeli airstrikes and bombardment on Monday, 13 of them in the north of the devastated coastal territory.

The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said around 100,000 people were marooned in Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun without medical or food supplies. Reuters could not verify the number independently.

The emergency service said its operations had come to a halt because of the three-week Israeli assault into the north, an area where the military said it had wiped out Hamas combat forces earlier in the year-long war.

Talks led by the US, Egypt and Qatar to broker a ceasefire resumed on Sunday after multiple abortive attempts, with Egypt's president proposing an initial two-day truce to exchange four Israeli hostages of Hamas for some Palestinian prisoners, to be followed by talks within 10 days on a permanent ceasefire.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday the latest meetings in Doha focused on a new outline that takes into account previous proposals and regional developments.

He said mediators would resume talks in coming days "in a continued attempt to advance a deal", without elaborating.

To date, Israel has repeatedly said the war will go on until Hamas is eradicated while the movement has ruled out end to fighting until Israeli forces leave Gaza.

Gaza's war has kindled wider conflict in the Middle East, raising concern about global oil supplies, with Israel carrying out bombings across Lebanon and sending forces into its south in an offensive to disable Iran-backed Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas.

It has also triggered rare direct clashes between regional arch-foes Israel and Iran. At the weekend, Israeli warplanes pounded missile production sites in Iran in retaliation for an Oct. 1 Iranian missile volley at Israel.

Iran's Foreign Ministry said on Monday Tehran would "use all available tools" to respond to Israel's weekend attack.

'NONSENSE TALK OF CEASEFIRE'

North Gaza's three major hospitals, whose officials refused Israel's orders to evacuate, said they were hardly operating. At least two had been damaged by Israeli fire during the assault and run out of medical, food and fuel stocks.

At least one doctor, a nurse and two child patients had died in those hospitals due to a lack of treatment in the past week.

North Gaza residents said Israeli forces were besieging schools and other shelters housing displaced families, ordering them out before rounding up men and pushing women and children to leave the area for Gaza City and points in the south.

Only a few families headed toward southern Gaza as the majority preferred to relocate temporarily in Gaza City, fearing they could otherwise never regain access to their homes.

Some said they had written their death notices in case they died from the constant bombardment.

"While the world is busy with Lebanon and new nonsense talk about a few days of ceasefire (in Gaza), the Israeli occupation is wiping out north Gaza and displacing its people," a resident of Jabalia told Reuters by a chat app.

The Israeli military says its forces operate in keeping with international law and accuses fighters of hiding fighters and weaponry in civilian areas including hospitals and schools, a charge Hamas denies.

North Gaza was the first part of the enclave to be hammered by Israel's ground offensive after Hamas' cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023, with intensive bombing largely flattening towns.

Nevertheless, Hamas-led fighters continue to attack Israeli forces in hit-and-run operations.

Hamas' 2023 attack killed 1,200 people and resulted in more than 250 hostages being taken into Gaza, per Israeli tallies.

The death toll from Israel's retaliatory air and ground onslaught in Gaza has reached 43,020, the Gaza health ministry said in an update on Monday.