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Libya: Unity Forces Block Anti-Normalization Protests in Tripoli

Tripoli residents protest against Najla Mangoush’s meeting with Eli Cohen in Rome (AFP)
Tripoli residents protest against Najla Mangoush’s meeting with Eli Cohen in Rome (AFP)
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Libya: Unity Forces Block Anti-Normalization Protests in Tripoli

Tripoli residents protest against Najla Mangoush’s meeting with Eli Cohen in Rome (AFP)
Tripoli residents protest against Najla Mangoush’s meeting with Eli Cohen in Rome (AFP)

The interim Libyan Government of National Unity (GNU), headed by Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, prevented a group of protesters from the city of Zawiya from entering Tripoli to join the widespread protests after a meeting between Foreign Minister Najla al-Mangoush and her Israeli counterpart, Eli Cohen, in Italy.

The unity government neither denied nor confirmed reports that the dismissed minister arrived in Madrid, Spain, after fleeing the country.

Mangoush was temporarily suspended from her position over the reported meeting.

In a leaked audio message, the Interior Minister, Emad Trabelsi, informed Dbeibeh that all anti-government protests have been put to an end.

Trabelsi pointed out that the deployment of Interior Ministry forces in the capital over the past two days had not happened since 2011, since the popular uprising that toppled the regime of the late Muammar Gaddafi.

He claimed that all state institutions were secured without firing a single shot.

The Zawiya protesters accused a Public Security force, led by Trabelsi, of blocking the road to Tripoli and assaulting them.

Eyewitnesses said that late on Tuesday, government security forces blocked the road in western Tripoli on protesters coming from the city of Zawiya demanding the overthrow of the Dbeibeh government. They requested protection from the Zawiya brigades.

Several Zawiya youth called on residents of neighboring regions to join them in their march, which they began Tuesday evening to overthrow the government and called on its military leaders to protect them.

Mahmoud Hamza, the commander of the “444th Brigade” of the Dbeibeh government, ignored the youth’s request for protection against local government forces and asked them to return to their areas.

Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Committee confirmed that security and military units affiliated with the unity government fired random shots to disperse the protests in several areas in the capital last Sunday and Monday.

The Committee revealed in a statement that several protesters had been arrested without legal procedures, saying the Interior Ministry is fully responsible for ensuring the safety of the demonstrators, and called on the Public Prosecutor to investigate these incidents.

Dbeibeh ignored the developments and appeared at a family wedding in his hometown of Misrata, along with some ministers.

Local media accused the Dbeibeh family of “deliberately provoking the Libyans” by broadcasting video clips of the ceremony, saying they were squandering people’s money and ignoring the popular uprising calling for the government’s dismissal.

Meanwhile, the former Chairman of the High Council of State, Khalid al-Mishri, said that the Dbeibeh cabinet would do anything to remain in position, noting that he had received information that several figures affiliated with the government made efforts to communicate with Israeli intelligence.

However Mishri indicated that he could not take a political position based on leaked information because they lacked evidence.

Furthermore, the Speaker, Aguila Saleh, announced a categorical rejection of any attempts at normalizing diplomatic ties with Israel.

Saleh denounced during a phone call with the President of the Palestinian National Council, Rawhi Fattouh, the outrageous attempts at normalization, extending an invitation to Fattouh to visit Libya.

Special Envoy of the French President to Libya, Paul Soler, affirmed France’s support for Libya’s sovereignty and the mediation efforts of Ambassador Abdallah Batelli, aiming to hold presidential and legislative elections as soon as possible.

Head of the Presidential Council Mohamed Menfi announced that he had received a French invitation to participate in a meeting at the peace conference in Paris next November.

During a meeting with Soler, Menfi stressed the Council’s endeavor to end the transitional stages through transparent elections, with the participation of all Libyans.

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Israeli Airstrikes Hit Yemen's Capital and Port City after Houthi Attack Targets Israel

A Houthi supporter carries a mock missile during an anti-US and anti-Israel protest in Sana'a, Yemen, 13 December 2024. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB
A Houthi supporter carries a mock missile during an anti-US and anti-Israel protest in Sana'a, Yemen, 13 December 2024. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB
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Israeli Airstrikes Hit Yemen's Capital and Port City after Houthi Attack Targets Israel

A Houthi supporter carries a mock missile during an anti-US and anti-Israel protest in Sana'a, Yemen, 13 December 2024. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB
A Houthi supporter carries a mock missile during an anti-US and anti-Israel protest in Sana'a, Yemen, 13 December 2024. EPA/YAHYA ARHAB

A series of intense Israeli airstrikes shook Yemen's Houthi-held capital and a port city early Thursday and killed at least nine people, officials said, shortly after a Houthi missile targeted central Israel.
Thursday’s strikes risk further escalating conflict with the Iranian-backed Houthis, whose attacks on the Red Sea corridor have drastically impacted global shipping. The militants have so far avoided the same level of intense military strikes that have targeted the Palestinian Hamas militant group and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, fellow members of Tehran’s self-described “Axis of Resistance.”
The Houthi-controlled satellite channel al-Masirah said that some of the strikes targeted power stations in the capital, as well as the Ras Isa oil terminal on the Red Sea. The channel, citing its correspondent in the port city of Hodeidah, said at least seven people had been killed at the nearby port of Salif, while another two had been killed at the Ras Isa oil terminal.
Others suffered wounds at the Hodeidah port as well, it said.
An Israeli military statement offered no specifics on the targets hit, nor any damage assessment.
“The targets struck by the (Israeli military) were used by the Houthi forces for military purposes,” the statement said. “The strikes degrade the Houthi terrorist regime, preventing it from exploiting the targets for military and terrorist purposes, including the smuggling of Iranian weapons to the region.”
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, an Israeli military spokesman, said the strikes hit energy and port infrastructure, which he alleged the militants “have been using in ways that effectively contributed to their military action.”
“Israel will not hesitate to act in order to defend itself and its citizens from the Houthi attacks,” Hagari said.
Houthi-held Hodeidah, some 145 kilometers (90 miles) southwest of Sanaa, has been key for food shipments into Yemen as its decades long war has gone on. There's also longstanding suspicion that weapons from Iran have been transferred through the port.
The strikes happened just after the Israeli military said its air force intercepted a missile launched from Yemen before it entered the country’s territory.
“Rocket and missile sirens were sounded following the possibility of falling debris from the interception,” the Israeli military said. Sirens sounded near Tel Aviv and the surrounding areas, and a large explosion was heard overhead at the time. The Houthis did not immediately claim the missile attack, but said an important military statement would be issued in the coming hours, following a pattern of how they claim their assaults.
Israel previously struck Hodeidah and its oil infrastructure in July after a Houthi drone attack killed one person and wounded 10 in Tel Aviv. In September, Israel struck Hodeidah again, killing at least four people after a militant missile targeted Israel’s Ben Gurion airport as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was arriving back to the country.
American forces have also launched a series of strikes on the Houthis over nearly a year due to Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea corridor. On Monday, the US military's Central Command said it hit “a key command-and-control facility" operated by the Houthis in Sanaa, later identified as the al-Ardi complex once home to the government's Defense Ministry.
But Israel appears to have carried out Thursday's strikes alone. A US military official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss the attacks, said America had no part in them.
The Houthis have targeted some 100 merchant vessels with missiles and drones since the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip started in October 2023 after Hamas' surprise attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw 250 others taken hostage. Israel's grinding offensive in Gaza has killed over 45,000 Palestinians, local health officials say.
The Houthis have seized one vessel and sunk two in a campaign that has also killed four sailors. Other missiles and drones have either been intercepted by separate US- and European-led coalitions in the Red Sea or failed to reach their targets, which have also included Western military vessels.
The Houthis maintain that they target ships linked to Israel, the US or the United Kingdom to force an end to Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza. However, many of the ships attacked have little or no connection to the conflict, including some bound for Iran.