Libya: UN Envoy Salamé Discusses Reviving Skhirat Agreement

Ghassan Salame, dean of The Paris School of International Affairs, attends a session at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos January 24, 2014. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich
Ghassan Salame, dean of The Paris School of International Affairs, attends a session at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos January 24, 2014. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich
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Libya: UN Envoy Salamé Discusses Reviving Skhirat Agreement

Ghassan Salame, dean of The Paris School of International Affairs, attends a session at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos January 24, 2014. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich
Ghassan Salame, dean of The Paris School of International Affairs, attends a session at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos January 24, 2014. REUTERS/Ruben Sprich

United Nations envoy to Libya Ghassan Salamé renewed his call for amending the ‘Skhirat Agreement’ after a stalemate following the political parties' meeting in Tunis on October 21 in an attempt to revive the agreement.

Speaker of the House of Representatives Abdullah Balik told Asharq Al-Awsat that the move was “an attempt to bring the views closer before the elections.”

Salamé met with the Libya’s eastern-based House of Representatives (HoR) and the Tripoli-based Higher Council of State (HCS) to agree on a mechanism for selecting a new presidential council.

"The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, Ghassan Salamé, met with the heads of the HoR and HSC Dialogue Committees, AbdelSalam Nasiyeh and Musa Farraj at the UN compound in Tripoli," the Mission tweeted earlier.

"He received an update on the two Councils efforts to reconcile their views and proceed in harmony," the Mission added.

The meeting discussed the need for the two Councils to agree on the mechanism of choosing the new presidential council and forming a unified executive authority.

"The political process in Libya is frozen and threatened by failure because of the differences of political parties," said a House of Representatives for the eastern city of Benghazi member Abu Bakir Baaira.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat he explained that the UN envoy was trying to "reach out to scattered political parties."

He added that “holding parliamentary and presidential elections in Libya this year is not easy.”

Given rising difficulties, Baaira said that it drove Salamé to search for a post-agreement recovery phase.

Salamé made his remarks during a meeting with Heads of the Dialogue Committees of both parties in the capital Tripoli.

In November 2017, the Higher Council of State rejected a proposal by the United Nations to amend the political agreement, threatening to hold early elections within six months.



Israeli Forces Storm Major West Bank City of Nablus

Tear gas and smoke are pictured through a window during a large-scale Israeli military raid in the old town of Nablus city in the occupied West Bank, on June 10, 2025. (AFP)
Tear gas and smoke are pictured through a window during a large-scale Israeli military raid in the old town of Nablus city in the occupied West Bank, on June 10, 2025. (AFP)
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Israeli Forces Storm Major West Bank City of Nablus

Tear gas and smoke are pictured through a window during a large-scale Israeli military raid in the old town of Nablus city in the occupied West Bank, on June 10, 2025. (AFP)
Tear gas and smoke are pictured through a window during a large-scale Israeli military raid in the old town of Nablus city in the occupied West Bank, on June 10, 2025. (AFP)

Israel launched a large-scale military operation on Tuesday in the old city of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, AFP journalists reported, with the army reporting injured troops and two Palestinians "eliminated".

Dozens of military vehicles entered the city shortly after midnight, an AFP journalist reported, after a curfew had been announced over loudspeakers the day before.

Military operations are focused on the old city, a densely populated area bordering a large downtown square where young men and boys gathered to burn tires and throw stones at armored vehicles.

The Israeli army said that one soldier was "moderately injured" and three others "lightly injured" when two Palestinians attempted to steal a soldier's weapon.

Troops opened fire and "eliminated" both Palestinians, the army said in a statement, using a term the military often uses when killing gunmen.

AFPTV footage showed Israeli soldiers standing in one of the old city's narrow streets, next to the bodies of two civilians.

Neither Palestinian medics nor the Israeli army confirmed the two deaths.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said on Tuesday that three people were injured from bullet shrapnel, four from "physical assaults", and dozens more from tear gas inhalation.

It added that many injuries had to be handled within the old city after its ambulances were blocked from entering.

Nablus is located in the northern West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967.

The territory's north has been the target of a major Israeli military operation dubbed "Iron Wall" since January 21.

On Tuesday, Israeli soldiers entered shops to search them and arrested several people for questioning, according to an AFP correspondent at the scene.

The correspondent added that Israeli flags were raised over the roofs of buildings in the Old City that had been turned into temporary bases for Israeli troops.

Violence has surged in the West Bank since the start of the Gaza war, triggered by the unprecedented October 7, 2023 attack by the Palestinian movement Hamas on Israel.

At least 938 Palestinians, including fighters but also many civilians, have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli soldiers or settlers, according to data from the Palestinian Authority.

During the same period, least 35 Israelis, both civilians and soldiers, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military raids, according to official Israeli figures.