Libya Captures ISIS Militant Behind Three Attacks

Members of the Libyan army's special forces take cover as a tank fires towards militants during clashes in the militants' last stronghold in Benghazi. REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-Fetori
Members of the Libyan army's special forces take cover as a tank fires towards militants during clashes in the militants' last stronghold in Benghazi. REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-Fetori
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Libya Captures ISIS Militant Behind Three Attacks

Members of the Libyan army's special forces take cover as a tank fires towards militants during clashes in the militants' last stronghold in Benghazi. REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-Fetori
Members of the Libyan army's special forces take cover as a tank fires towards militants during clashes in the militants' last stronghold in Benghazi. REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-Fetori

A leader of ISIS group who allegedly planned and sponsored three deadly attacks in the Libyan capital Tripoli in 2018 has been captured, the country's prime minister said Thursday.

"Our forces apprehended on Tuesday a leader of the terrorist organization ISIS, involved in the planning and command of terrorist acts that targeted the institutions of our country and their fallen officials," Abdelhamid Dbeibah, head of the United Nations-supported Libyan government, said during a live television broadcast.

The government's media office offered no further details on the identity or nationality of the militant, who was arrested in a joint military operation.

Dbeibah also renewed his government's commitment to "combat terrorism in all its forms", to "prosecute anyone involved" in terrorist acts, and to "strengthen stability throughout the country".

On May 2, 2018, 14 people were killed in a suicide attack claimed by ISIS on the headquarters of the Libyan High Electoral Commission in Tripoli.

On September 10, 2018, a suicide attack by the militant group against the headquarters of the Libyan National Oil Company in the capital killed two and wounded 10 company staff.

On December 25, 2018, three people, including a Libyan diplomat, were killed in an attack claimed by ISIS against the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.



Israeli Ex-General Says War Did Not End Well for His Country

People walk along Gaza's coastal al-Rashid Street to cross the Netzarim corridor from the southern Gaza Strip into the north on January 27, 2025. (AFP)
People walk along Gaza's coastal al-Rashid Street to cross the Netzarim corridor from the southern Gaza Strip into the north on January 27, 2025. (AFP)
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Israeli Ex-General Says War Did Not End Well for His Country

People walk along Gaza's coastal al-Rashid Street to cross the Netzarim corridor from the southern Gaza Strip into the north on January 27, 2025. (AFP)
People walk along Gaza's coastal al-Rashid Street to cross the Netzarim corridor from the southern Gaza Strip into the north on January 27, 2025. (AFP)

A former Israeli general who had proposed a surrender-or-starve strategy for northern Gaza says “the war has ended very badly” for Israel.

Giora Eiland spoke to Israeli Army Radio on Monday as tens of thousands of Palestinians returned to the heavily destroyed north in accordance with a ceasefire reached with Hamas.

Eiland said that by opening the Netzarim corridor, an Israeli military zone bisecting the territory, Israel had lost leverage over Hamas and would not be able to restore it, even if it resumes the war. “We are at the mercy of Hamas,” he said.

Eiland was the main author of the so-called Generals’ Plan, which called for giving civilians in the northern third of Gaza a week to evacuate. The whole area would then be declared a closed military zone, sealed off from humanitarian aid, and anyone remaining would be considered a combatant.

Last fall, the plan was presented to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, which has not said whether it adopted parts of it. The Israeli military has denied carrying out the plan.

Around the time it was publicized, in October, Israel launched a major operation in northern Gaza and sealed it off, allowing in hardly any aid. Tens of thousands of people were forced out, and the operation caused heavy destruction.

Eiland said Israel had failed to achieve its stated goals, including destroying Hamas, removing it from power, restoring a sense of safety to Israeli border communities or safely returning dozens of hostages abducted in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war.

He said that Hamas, by contrast, “has largely achieved everything it wanted.”