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.



Weaponization of Food in Gaza Constitutes War Crime, UN Rights Office Says

A tent camp for displaced Palestinians stretches among the ruins of buildings destroyed by Israeli bombardments in west of Gaza City, Saturday, June 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
A tent camp for displaced Palestinians stretches among the ruins of buildings destroyed by Israeli bombardments in west of Gaza City, Saturday, June 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
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Weaponization of Food in Gaza Constitutes War Crime, UN Rights Office Says

A tent camp for displaced Palestinians stretches among the ruins of buildings destroyed by Israeli bombardments in west of Gaza City, Saturday, June 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)
A tent camp for displaced Palestinians stretches among the ruins of buildings destroyed by Israeli bombardments in west of Gaza City, Saturday, June 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

The UN human rights office said on Tuesday that the "weaponization" of food for civilians in Gaza constitutes a war crime, in its strongest remarks yet on a new model of aid distribution run by an Israeli-backed organization.

Over 410 people have been killed by gunshots or shells fired by the Israeli military while trying to reach distribution sites of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation since it began work in late May, UN human rights spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan told reporters at a Geneva press briefing.

The death toll has been independently verified by his office, he added.

"Desperate, hungry people in Gaza continue to face the inhumane choice of either starving to death or risk being killed while trying to get food," he said, describing the system as "Israel's militarized humanitarian assistance mechanism".

"The weaponization of food for civilians, in addition to restricting or preventing their access to life-sustaining services, constitutes a war crime and, under certain circumstances, may constitute elements of other crimes under international law."

Asked whether Israel was guilty of that war crime, he said: "The legal qualification needs to be made by a court of law."

Israel rejects war crimes charges in Gaza and blames Hamas fighters for harm to civilians for operating among them, which the fighters deny.