Protests in Libya over Gaza Hospital Strike

Libyans chant slogans and wave Palestinian and Libyan national flags as they march in solidarity with the people of Palestine. Mahmud Turkia / AFP
Libyans chant slogans and wave Palestinian and Libyan national flags as they march in solidarity with the people of Palestine. Mahmud Turkia / AFP
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Protests in Libya over Gaza Hospital Strike

Libyans chant slogans and wave Palestinian and Libyan national flags as they march in solidarity with the people of Palestine. Mahmud Turkia / AFP
Libyans chant slogans and wave Palestinian and Libyan national flags as they march in solidarity with the people of Palestine. Mahmud Turkia / AFP

Several hundred people protested in Tripoli and other Libyan cities late Tuesday over the deadly strike on a Gaza hospital, according to AFP journalists.

In Tripoli, hundreds of demonstrators of all ages, brandishing Palestinian flags and some covering their faces with Palestinian keffiyehs, crisscrossed the streets of the city center before converging on Martyrs' Square.

They chanted slogans of support for the residents of Gaza and denounced the strike by the "Zionist enemy".

"We give our blood and our souls for Gaza," they chanted in Tripoli and similarly in Misrata, a city 200 kilometers (120 miles) west of the capital.

At least 200 people were killed Tuesday in a strike at a Gaza hospital compound, according to the Hamas-run Palestinian territory's health ministry, which blamed Israel.

For its part, the Israeli army said the strike was a rocket misfired by the Gaza-based militant group Islamic Jihad, an ally of Hamas.

Earlier, Abdulhamid Dbeibah, the prime minister of Libya's Tripoli-based internationally-recognized government, condemned the hospital strike, calling it a "despicable crime".

"We denounce this crime which exceeded all limits, and I call on all countries of the world and the great powers in particular, to put an end to these crimes and to open corridors to bring humanitarian aid into the besieged sector," he said on X, formerly Twitter, late Tuesday.

"Targeting medical and civilian facilities is a war crime. This aggression must stop," he said.



Geagea Calls on Hezbollah to Work with Lebanese Army

 Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea. (Lebanese Forces)
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea. (Lebanese Forces)
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Geagea Calls on Hezbollah to Work with Lebanese Army

 Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea. (Lebanese Forces)
Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea. (Lebanese Forces)

Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea urged on Friday Hezbollah to engage with the Lebanese army and devise a plan to dismantle its military infrastructure south and north of the Litani river.

In a press conference Friday, Geagea criticized Hezbollah for opening a front with Israel and accused the Shiite group of committing a “major crime” against the Lebanese people.

“We could have done without the martyrdom of more than 4,000 people, the displacement of thousands and the destruction across the country,” he said. “Despite all these tragedies, Hezbollah continues to talk about a victory using a bizarre and disconnected logic that has no basis in reality.”

Geagea’s comments came two days after a US-brokered ceasefire between Hezbollah and Israel went into effect. More than 3,900 people have been killed in Lebanon since Israel's conflict with Hezbollah escalated.

Geagea, whose Lebanese Forces Party holds the largest bloc in Lebanon’s 128-member parliament, also addressed Lebanon’s presidential deadlock. The country has been without a president for more than two years.

Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has scheduled a session for presidential elections in January. "Consultations with opposition factions and our allies will begin in the coming days to explore the possibility of agreeing on presidential candidates and bringing them to parliament,” Geagea said.