Libyan Forces Mobilize against Protest Call

 Demonstrators burn tires in protest against the meeting between the foreign affairs ministers of Libya and Israel held last week in Italy, in Tripoli, Libya, August 28, 2023. (Reuters)
Demonstrators burn tires in protest against the meeting between the foreign affairs ministers of Libya and Israel held last week in Italy, in Tripoli, Libya, August 28, 2023. (Reuters)
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Libyan Forces Mobilize against Protest Call

 Demonstrators burn tires in protest against the meeting between the foreign affairs ministers of Libya and Israel held last week in Italy, in Tripoli, Libya, August 28, 2023. (Reuters)
Demonstrators burn tires in protest against the meeting between the foreign affairs ministers of Libya and Israel held last week in Italy, in Tripoli, Libya, August 28, 2023. (Reuters)

Armed forces in the Libyan capital mobilized a massive security presence on Friday, apparently to prevent any further protests over the interim government's meeting with Israel last week.

Dozens of military vehicles, some armed with heavy weapons, lined major roads and traffic intersections while convoys belonging to powerful armed factions patrolled the city, Reuters journalists said.

The security presence came after activists called for new protests against the interim Government of National Unity (GNU) and Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah over its foreign minister meeting her Israeli counterpart.

During protests on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday nights, more than 16 demonstrators were detained by the security forces in Tripoli though most of them are to be released on Saturday said Omar Tarban, head of the Beltrees activist group.

The arrests, and Friday's heavy security presence, underscore the increasingly precarious position of the GNU amid a concerted push by Libyan factions to replace it with a new administration.

In a noticeable shift last week, the United Nations envoy said a unified government was a prerequisite for elections in Libya, moving from its previous stance that a national vote should go ahead without changing the administration.

Libya has had little peace or stability since a 2011 NATO-backed uprising and it split in 2014 between warring factions that had rival governments and legislative bodies.

Major warfare paused in 2020 but a political process to unify Libya and hold elections has stalled, with the eastern-based parliament and other parts of the political system rejecting the GNU's legitimacy.

Powerful armed factions in Tripoli have continued to back Dbeibah and they stopped a rival government appointed by the parliament from taking office in the capital during a day of fighting last year.

However, clashes last month between those same factions in Tripoli that are aligned with Dbeibah underscored the risk of further warfare without a stable political settlement.

Anger against Dbeibah and the GNU flared late on Sunday when Israel's Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said he had met Libyan Foreign Minister Najla al-Mangoush in Rome and they had discussed future cooperation.

Libya does not recognize Israel and it backs the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

After protests in several cities and expressions of outrage from across Libya's political spectrum Dbeibah dismissed Mangoush. The GNU Youth Minister Fathallah al-Zuni said on Thursday he had declined to take the post.

Dbeibah said in cabinet on Thursday that he rejects any normalization with Israel and that the facts about Mangoush's meeting with Cohen would be made public and required "a harsh response", but he did not specifically deny knowledge of it.



At Least 15 Killed in Suicide Bombing at Damascus Church

A Syrian man reacts inside Mar Elias church where a suicide bomber detonated himself in Dweila in the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday June 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
A Syrian man reacts inside Mar Elias church where a suicide bomber detonated himself in Dweila in the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday June 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
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At Least 15 Killed in Suicide Bombing at Damascus Church

A Syrian man reacts inside Mar Elias church where a suicide bomber detonated himself in Dweila in the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday June 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
A Syrian man reacts inside Mar Elias church where a suicide bomber detonated himself in Dweila in the outskirts of Damascus, Syria, Sunday June 22, 2025. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)

At least 15 people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the Mar Elias Church in the Dweila neighborhood of Syria's capital Damascus on Sunday, security sources said.

Syria's interior ministry said the suicide bomber was an ISIS member. He entered the church, opened fire and then detonated his explosive vest, the ministry added in a statement.

A security source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said two men were involved in the attack, including the one who blew himself up.

Syria's state news agency cited the health ministry as putting the preliminary casualty toll at nine dead and 13 injured.

Some local media reported that children were among the casualties.

A livestream from the site by Syria's civil defense, the White Helmets, showed scenes of destruction from within the church, including a bloodied floor and shattered church pews and masonry.

Syrian Information Minister Hamza Mostafa condemned the attack, calling it a terrorist attack.

“This cowardly act goes against the civic values that brings us together,” he said in a post on X. “We will not back down from our commitment to equal citizenship ... and we also affirm the state’s pledge to exert all its efforts to combat criminal organizations and to protect society from all attacks threatening its safety.”