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Senussi Denies Involvement in Killing of ‘February 17’ Protesters in Libya 

Abdullah al-Senussi, former head of military intelligence under late Libyan leader Moammar al-Gaddafi. (Reuters file photo)
Abdullah al-Senussi, former head of military intelligence under late Libyan leader Moammar al-Gaddafi. (Reuters file photo)
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Senussi Denies Involvement in Killing of ‘February 17’ Protesters in Libya 

Abdullah al-Senussi, former head of military intelligence under late Libyan leader Moammar al-Gaddafi. (Reuters file photo)
Abdullah al-Senussi, former head of military intelligence under late Libyan leader Moammar al-Gaddafi. (Reuters file photo)

Abdullah al-Senussi, former head of military intelligence under late Libyan leader Moammar al-Gaddafi, denied on Monday charges that he was involved in the killing and quelling of protests during the February 17, 2011 revolution that toppled Gaddafi.

Senussi appeared before an appellate court in the capital Tripoli where “he faced over 25 charges, including the killing of protesters,” said his lawyer Ahmad Nashad.

Nashad told Asharq Al-Awsat that Senussi denied all the charges during the hearing that lasted four and a half hours.

The court listened to Senussi’s defense and later, he recalled the conditions of his arrest and current health situation, he added.

Senussi, 73, was seen as one of the most powerful figures in the Gaddafi regime. He was married to Gaddafi's sister-in-law and part of his inner circle.

Senussi’s court appearance had been delayed 13 times because of the opposition of the Special Deterrence Force militia. He has been held in Mitiga prison in Tripoli.

His supporters believe he is being held “hostage”, claiming his jailors worry that he will gain popular support as soon as he is released from prison.

Nashad said the hearing was adjourned to February 5 when it will listen to the defense of the remaining accused.

Senussi was sentenced to death in 2015 after he was accused of quelling the February 17 protests. In 2019, he was acquitted by a Tripoli court, but the supreme court overruled the decision and the case is being handled by another court.

Senussi’s Magarha tribe said it was optimistic after Monday’s court appearance.

Sheikh Haroun Arhouma, a tribal leader, told Asharq Al-Awsat that Senussi has heart problems and is suffering from liver cancer.

“We will hold Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah's government responsible for any harm that may befall him,” he warned.

Dbeibah is head of the Tripoli-based Government of National Unity (GNU).

“We will await the outcome of next week’s court session. We will welcome any good news, but we will take action if the outcome does not please us,” said Sheikh Haroun without elaborating.

“We control the oil and gas wells, as well as the water pipelines in the South. We will make our response heard. The western regions don’t boast oil or war,” he remarked.

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Arab World

2 US Service Members and One American Civilian Killed in Ambush in Syria, US Central Command Says

Residents ride a motorcycle along a war-damaged street in Palmyra, Syria. (AP)
Residents ride a motorcycle along a war-damaged street in Palmyra, Syria. (AP)
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2 US Service Members and One American Civilian Killed in Ambush in Syria, US Central Command Says

Residents ride a motorcycle along a war-damaged street in Palmyra, Syria. (AP)
Residents ride a motorcycle along a war-damaged street in Palmyra, Syria. (AP)

Two US service members and one American civilian were killed and three other people wounded in an ambush on Saturday by a lone member of the ISIS group in central Syria, the US military’s Central Command said. 

The attack on US troops in Syria is the first to inflict casualties since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad a year ago. 

Central Command said in a post on X that as a matter of respect for the families and in accordance with Department of Defense policy, the identities of the service members will be withheld until 24 hours after their next of kin have been notified. 

US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted on X: “Let it be known, if you target Americans — anywhere in the world — you will spend the rest of your brief, anxious life knowing the United States will hunt you, find you, and ruthlessly kill you.” 

The shooting took place near historic Palmyra, according to the state-run SANA news agency, which earlier said two members of Syria’s security force and several US service members had been wounded. The casualties were taken by helicopter to the al-Tanf garrison near the border with Iraq and Jordan. 

SANA said the attacker was killed, without providing further details. 

The US has hundreds of troops deployed in eastern Syria as part of a coalition fighting the ISIS group. 

Last month, Syria joined the international coalition fighting against the ISIS as Damascus improves its relations with Western countries following the ouster of Assad when opposition factions overthrew his regime in Damascus. 

The US had no diplomatic relations with Syria under Assad, but ties have warmed since the fall of the five-decade Assad family rule. The interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, made a historic visit to Washington last month where he held talks with President Donald Trump. 

ISIS was defeated on the battlefield in Syria in 2019, but the group’s sleeper cells still carry out deadly attacks in the country. The United Nations says the group still has between 5,000 and 7,000 fighters in Syria and Iraq. 

US troops, which have maintained a presence in different parts of Syria, including al-Tanf garrison in the central province of Homs, to train other forces as part of a broad campaign against ISIS, have been targeted in the past.  

One of the deadliest attacks occurred in 2019 in the northern town of Manbij when a blast killed two US service members and two American civilians, as well as others from Syria while conducting a patrol. 

Arab World

Israel Suspends Strike on Southern Lebanon Village After Lebanese Army Request

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the southern Lebanese, al-Mahmoudiyeh, Lebanon, Nov. 27, 2025. (AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the southern Lebanese, al-Mahmoudiyeh, Lebanon, Nov. 27, 2025. (AFP)
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Israel Suspends Strike on Southern Lebanon Village After Lebanese Army Request

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the southern Lebanese, al-Mahmoudiyeh, Lebanon, Nov. 27, 2025. (AFP)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli strike that targeted the southern Lebanese, al-Mahmoudiyeh, Lebanon, Nov. 27, 2025. (AFP)

Israel put a planned strike on a village in southern Lebanon on hold on Saturday after the Lebanese army requested access to the site to “address a breach” of a ceasefire agreement, an Israeli military spokesperson said.

Earlier in the day, Israel had issued an evacuation warning for the village of Yanouh ahead of what it said was a planned strike against infrastructure of the Hezbollah group.

“After the warning was issued, the Lebanese Army... requested permission to access the specified site again, which had been declared in violation, in order to address the breach of the agreement,” the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, said on X.

The Israel army “decided to allow this, and accordingly the airstrike was temporarily frozen.”

Israel and Lebanon agreed to a US-brokered ceasefire in 2024, ending more than a year of fighting between Israel and Hezbollah that had culminated in Israeli strikes that severely weakened the Iran-backed group. Since then, the sides have traded accusations over violations.

On Tuesday, Israel hit what it described as Hezbollah infrastructure in several areas of southern Lebanon.

Israel and Lebanon have both sent civilian envoys to a military committee monitoring their ceasefire, a step toward meeting a months-old US demand that they broaden talks in line with President Donald Trump’s Middle East peace agenda.

Arab World

Israel Says Killed Top Hamas Weapons Figure in Gaza

Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a car in Gaza City, December 13, 2025. (Reuters)
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a car in Gaza City, December 13, 2025. (Reuters)
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Israel Says Killed Top Hamas Weapons Figure in Gaza

Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a car in Gaza City, December 13, 2025. (Reuters)
Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli strike on a car in Gaza City, December 13, 2025. (Reuters)

Israel said it killed the head of weapons production in Hamas's military wing in a strike in the Gaza Strip on Saturday. 

The civil defense agency and medical sources in the Hamas-run Palestinian territory told AFP an Israeli strike killed five people in the Tel al-Hawa district, southwest of Gaza City. 

When contacted by AFP earlier on Saturday, the army did not say whether the strike reported in Tel al-Hawa was the same as the one mentioned in an army statement before the announcement that it had killed Hamas's Raed Saad. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a joint statement that "in response to the detonation of a Hamas explosive device that wounded our forces today in the Yellow Area of the Gaza Strip... (they) instructed the elimination of the terrorist Raed Saad". 

Under the US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, Israeli troops have withdrawn to positions behind the so-called Yellow Line, though they are still in control of more than half the territory. 

Netanyahu and Katz described Saad as "one of the architects" of the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that sparked the war in Gaza. 

The Israeli army said Saad was the head of the weapons production headquarters of Hamas's military wing who led the group's "force build-up". 

Family sources confirmed his death to AFP and said the funeral would be held on Sunday. 

Israel's military earlier on Saturday said two reserve soldiers were lightly injured "as a result of an explosive device that detonated during an operation to clear the area of terrorist infrastructure in southern Gaza". 

The ceasefire that came into effect on October 10 has halted the fighting between Israel and Hamas, but it remains fragile with each side accusing the other of violating its terms. 

- Burnt-out car - 

Mahmud Bassal, a spokesman for Gaza civil defense which operates as a rescue force under Hamas authority, said five people were killed after "a civilian jeep-type vehicle was targeted near the Nabulsi roundabout in Tel al-Hawa". 

Bassal said the "charred" bodies were taken to Al-Shifa hospital after "Israeli warplanes targeted the civilian vehicle with three missiles, causing it to burn and its destruction". 

The hospital's emergency department confirmed to AFP the arrival of the five bodies and said more than 25 people were injured in the strike. 

AFP footage showed a mangled car with vehicle parts scattered around next to other debris. 

"Warplanes fired several missiles at the vehicle, setting it ablaze. Residents rushed to extinguish the fire, and charred body parts were scattered on the ground," a witness, who did not wish to give his name for security reasons, said in the Tel al-Hawa area. 

Another witness, a 34-year-old man living in a tent in the Tel al-Hawa area, said he "saw several Hamas members arrive at the site of the attack", without providing further details. 

Civil defense agency spokesman Bassal also said a 17-year-old boy and an 18-year-old boy were killed by Israeli fire in two separate incidents in Gaza.