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Italy: UNIFIL Has Vital Role, Mission Must be Strengthened

17 October 2024, Italy, Rome: Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto briefs the Italian Senate, on the recent attacks against the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Photo: Roberto Monaldo/LaPresse via ZUMA Press/dpa
17 October 2024, Italy, Rome: Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto briefs the Italian Senate, on the recent attacks against the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Photo: Roberto Monaldo/LaPresse via ZUMA Press/dpa
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Italy: UNIFIL Has Vital Role, Mission Must be Strengthened

17 October 2024, Italy, Rome: Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto briefs the Italian Senate, on the recent attacks against the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Photo: Roberto Monaldo/LaPresse via ZUMA Press/dpa
17 October 2024, Italy, Rome: Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto briefs the Italian Senate, on the recent attacks against the United Nations Interim Forces in Lebanon (UNIFIL). Photo: Roberto Monaldo/LaPresse via ZUMA Press/dpa

The UN peacekeeping mission to Lebanon is vital to ending war in the region and needs to be strengthened, not withdrawn from combat zones as Israel has demanded, Italy's defense minister said on Thursday.
The UN mission known as UNIFIL is stationed in southern Lebanon to monitor hostilities along the demarcation line with Israel -- an area that has seen fierce clashes this month between Israeli troops and Iran-backed Hezbollah fighters.
Israel has said the UN forces are providing a human shield for Hezbollah and has fired at the UNIFIL bases repeatedly over the past week, injuring several peacekeepers. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says UNIFIL should temporarily "get out of harm's way".
Italy has long been a major contributor to the multi-national operation and has denounced Israel for its actions, straining relations between two nations, which have been very close under Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's leadership.
"Israel needs to understand that these (UN) soldiers are not working for any one side. They are there to help maintain peace and promote regional stability," Defense Minister Guido Crosetto told parliament on Thursday.
He said the resolution establishing the UNIFIL mandate was last revised in 2006 and needed updating.
"UNIFIL is a complex mission with a mandate that is difficult to implement, has inadequate rules of engagement and forces that are not equipped for the current conflict," he said.
Crosetto has called on the United Nations to update its operational capacity, including creating a rapid deployment force to enhance UNIFIL's freedom of movement and giving them more fire power.
UNIFIL is meant to ensure peace in southern Lebanon and guarantee that only the regular Lebanese army is present in the area. However, it has proved incapable of preventing Hezbollah from building up its forces or preventing Israeli incursions.
"The practical disconnect between the assigned mission and the capacity to implement it makes it more necessary than ever to rethink and strengthen UNIFIL," Crosetto said.
Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that Israel saw UNIFIL as playing a key role in the "day after" war on Hezbollah.
Meloni is due to travel to Beirut on Friday to discuss the situation with Lebanese officials -- the first Western leader to visit the country since the latest surge of violence.
Crosetto said he would also go to Beirut and Tel Aviv next week.
"I believe that Lebanon is a key piece for the stability of the entire Middle East," he said. "If we cannot even find the strength to have a strong, unified international action in a place like this, we probably won't succeed anywhere."

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Arab World

US Ambassador Causes Uproar by Claiming Israel has a Right to Much of the Middle East

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee is seen during an interview in Jerusalem, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025.(AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg, File)
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee is seen during an interview in Jerusalem, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025.(AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg, File)
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US Ambassador Causes Uproar by Claiming Israel has a Right to Much of the Middle East

US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee is seen during an interview in Jerusalem, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025.(AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg, File)
US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee is seen during an interview in Jerusalem, Wednesday, Aug. 20, 2025.(AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg, File)

Arab and Muslim nations on Saturday sharply condemned comments by the US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, who said Israel has a right to much of the Middle East.

Huckabee made the comments in an interview with conservative commentator Tucker Carlson that aired Friday. Carlson said that according to the Bible, the descendants of Abraham would receive land that today would include essentially the entire Middle East, and asked Huckabee if Israel had a right to that land, The AP news reported.

Huckabee responded: “It would be fine if they took it all." Huckabee added, however, that Israel was not looking to expand its territory and has a right to security in the land it legitimately holds.

His comments sparked immediate backlash from neighboring Egypt and Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Oman, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the League of Arab States.

Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry described Huckabee's comments as “extremist rhetoric” and “unacceptable,” and called for the State Department to clarify its position on them.

Egypt's foreign ministry called his comments a “blatant violation” of international law, adding that “Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied Palestinian territory or other Arab lands.”

“Statements of this nature — extremist and lacking any sound basis — serve only to inflame sentiments and stir religious and national emotions,” the League of Arab States said.

Since its establishment in 1948, Israel has not had fully recognized borders. Its frontiers with Arab neighbors have shifted as a result of wars, annexations, ceasefires and peace agreements.

During the six-day 1967 Mideast war, Israel captured the West Bank and east Jerusalem from Jordan, Gaza and the Sinai Peninsula from Egypt and the Golan Heights from Syria. Israel withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula as part of a peace deal with Egypt following the 1973 Mideast war. It also unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005.

Israel has attempted to deepen control of the occupied West Bank in recent months. It has greatly expanded construction in Jewish settlements, legalized outposts and made significant bureaucratic changes to its policies in the territory. US President Donald Trump has said he will not allow Israel to annex the West Bank and has offered strong assurances that he’d block any move to do so.

Palestinians have for decades called for an independent state in the West Bank and Gaza with east Jerusalem its capital, a claim backed by much of the international community.

Huckabee, an evangelical Christian and strong supporter of Israel and the West Bank settlement movement, has long opposed the idea of a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinian people. In an interview last year, he said he does not believe in referring to the Arab descendants of people who had lived in British-controlled Palestine as “Palestinians.”

In the latest interview, Carlson pressed Huckabee about his interpretation of Bible verses from the book of Genesis, where he said God promised Abraham and his descendants land from the Nile to the Euphrates.

“That would be the Levant, so that would be Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon. It would also be big parts of Saudi Arabia and Iraq," Carlson said.

Huckabee replied: “Not sure we'd go that far. I mean, it would be a big piece of land."

Israel has encroached on more land since the start of its war with Hamas in Gaza, which was sparked by the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Under the current ceasefire, Israel withdrew its troops to a buffer zone but still controls more than half the territory. Israeli forces are supposed to withdraw further, though the ceasefire deal doesn’t give a timeline.

After Syrian President Bashar Assad was ousted at the end of 2024, Israel's military seized control of a demilitarized buffer zone in Syria created as part of a 1974 ceasefire between the countries. Israel said the move was temporary and meant to secure its border.

And Israel still occupies five hilltop posts on Lebanese territory following its brief war with Hezbollah in 2024.

Arab World

Libya’s Ramadan Celebrations Tempered by Economic Woes

A family walks on their way to shop for Ramadan decorations ahead of the holy month of Ramadan in Benghazi, Libya, February 16, 2026. (Reuters)
A family walks on their way to shop for Ramadan decorations ahead of the holy month of Ramadan in Benghazi, Libya, February 16, 2026. (Reuters)
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Libya’s Ramadan Celebrations Tempered by Economic Woes

A family walks on their way to shop for Ramadan decorations ahead of the holy month of Ramadan in Benghazi, Libya, February 16, 2026. (Reuters)
A family walks on their way to shop for Ramadan decorations ahead of the holy month of Ramadan in Benghazi, Libya, February 16, 2026. (Reuters)

Libyans have been enjoying Ramadan with feasts and fireworks -- but soaring prices, a devalued currency and political divisions have left many with little to celebrate.

Fifteen years on from the fall of longtime leader Moammar al-Gaddafi, the country remains split between east and west, while shortages of goods, including fuel, disrupt daily life, despite Libya sitting atop vast oil and gas reserves.

During the holy month of Ramadan, shoppers stock up on treats, as families gather for lavish meals before and after the daytime fast that stretches from sunrise to sunset.

But this year supermarkets have been rationing their goods, while many petrol stations are short of gas. In the capital Tripoli, most ATMs were out of cash this week.

Firas Zreeg, 37, told AFP while weaving through a crowded supermarket that the economy was deteriorating, blaming currency speculators for the fall in the dinar, "which has negative repercussions on our daily lives".

The price of cooking oil has doubled in recent weeks, while meat and poultry prices rose by half.

Refills of gas cylinders, officially priced at 1.5 dinars ($0.24) but often unavailable through state-run distributors, now sell for 75 dinars ($11.85) on the black market and at times more.

- 'Burden on citizens' -

Libya has struggled to recover from the chaos that erupted following the 2011 uprising that toppled Gaddafi.

It remains divided between the Government of National Unity (GNU) based in Tripoli and an eastern administration backed by Libyan National Army (LNA) commander Khalifa Haftar.

The country has largely been stable in recent years although there have been bouts of deadly violence, including the killing of Gaddafi's son and heir apparent Seif al-Islam this month.

With security holding, many Libyans are more focused on their livelihoods.

Last month, the central bank in the western territory devalued the dinar -- the second time in less than a year -- by nearly 15 percent, "aimed at preserving financial and monetary stability and ensuring the sustainability of public resources".

In an address this week, GNU leader Abdulhamid Dbeibah acknowledged that the devaluation had once again "put the burden on citizens".

Hanna Tetteh, head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya, warned on Wednesday that "poverty and pressure on society [are] increasing".

"The situation, in addition to the fragile security landscape, should be a matter for concern as such conditions can lead to unexpected political and security challenges," she told the UN Security Council.

Libya's other economic problems included the absence of a unified national budget, in light of its political divide, as well as uncoordinated public spending due to parallel state institutions, Tetteh said.

Revenues from the oil industry were also declining, she added, while the central bank has said public spending is growing at an unsustainable pace.

On Tuesday, Libya marked 15 years since the start of the uprising, with fireworks lighting up the sky in Tripoli, but for many Libyans life remains a struggle.

"Minor improvements in security were made over the past three years," Zreeg told AFP, but Libyans are still faced with huge economic challenges.

Arab World

Libya PM Undergoes 'Successful' Treatment at Heart Hospital

Head of Libya's Government of National Unity (GNU) Abdulhamid Dbeibah. (GNU)
Head of Libya's Government of National Unity (GNU) Abdulhamid Dbeibah. (GNU)
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Libya PM Undergoes 'Successful' Treatment at Heart Hospital

Head of Libya's Government of National Unity (GNU) Abdulhamid Dbeibah. (GNU)
Head of Libya's Government of National Unity (GNU) Abdulhamid Dbeibah. (GNU)

Libya's Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah has undergone "successful" treatment at a heart hospital, his office said Saturday, but his specific ailment was not disclosed.

"I assure you that I am fine, by God's grace," said a statement posted on social media overnight.

The treatment was carried out at a facility in the northwestern Libyan city of Misrata on an undisclosed date, said AFP.

Dbeibah said he later travelled abroad for "additional medical checkups for reassurance", though this was not the primary reason for his trip.

Italian media outlets previously reported he had been admitted to a leading cardiac facility in Milan on Thursday for a general check-up.

"The matter is simply that I underwent some additional medical checkups for reassurance while I was abroad due to a prior external commitment," he said.

"The results confirmed the success of the treatment I received in Libya, praise be to God."

The prime minister leads a UN-recognized government based in Tripoli that controls western Libya, while the country's east is run by another administration backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar.

Libya has remained divided since chaos erupted following the 2011 Arab Spring uprising that toppled longtime leader Muammar Gaddafi.