Tunisia: Parties, Movements Form Coalitions Ahead of Elections

Tunisian elections (AFP)
Tunisian elections (AFP)
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Tunisia: Parties, Movements Form Coalitions Ahead of Elections

Tunisian elections (AFP)
Tunisian elections (AFP)

Mohsen Marzouk, head of “Tunis Project” signed a political alliance with head of “Nidaa Tounes – Clan Hammamet” Selma Elloumi, few months ahead of Tunisia’s presidential and parliamentary elections.

Ruling party’s other wing, “Nidaa Tounes – Montaser”, is chaired by Hafedh Caid Essebsi, son of the current Tunisian president Beji Caid Essebsi.

The agreement provides a start to a unifying path that combines both “Nidaa Tounes – Hammamet” and “Tunis Project” and opens up to all political forces and national figures in preparation for the forthcoming polls.

Elloumi, former head of Presidential Diwan, said that the political alliance requires full integration of the two parties and their parliamentary blocs.

She pointed out that a press conference will be held Tuesday to provide more details on the unilateral path and the agreement between both parties, noting that they are currently finalizing the agreement.

Following the announcement of the coalition, the two parties are expected to become represented by a single parliamentary bloc formed of 52 deputies, with 37 representing Nidaa and 15 for Tunis Project.

In related news, Sec-Gen of the opposition Republican Party Issam Chebbi confirmed the formation of a new electoral alliance of the Republican Party with “al-Massar Democratic and Social Party”, “Movement of Socialist Democrats” and “Qaderoon Initiative” along with a number of independent figures.

Chebbi said they will reveal this week all the details of the alliance and its political and electoral objectives.

In other news, Bouhajla in Kairouan province, central Tunisia, witnessed protests and riots against the backdrop of the death of a Tunisian, 60, inside a security facility.

The prosecution in the Court of First Instance in the Kairouan ordered an investigation into the events and the circumstances leading to the death of the civilian after his health deteriorated inside a police station.



Israeli Strike Kills at Least 10 People in the West Bank

FILED - 24 January 2025, Palestinian Territories, Jenin: Smoke billows from buildings during the Israeli army operations in Jenin. Photo: Ayman Nobani/dpa
FILED - 24 January 2025, Palestinian Territories, Jenin: Smoke billows from buildings during the Israeli army operations in Jenin. Photo: Ayman Nobani/dpa
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Israeli Strike Kills at Least 10 People in the West Bank

FILED - 24 January 2025, Palestinian Territories, Jenin: Smoke billows from buildings during the Israeli army operations in Jenin. Photo: Ayman Nobani/dpa
FILED - 24 January 2025, Palestinian Territories, Jenin: Smoke billows from buildings during the Israeli army operations in Jenin. Photo: Ayman Nobani/dpa

Palestinian health authorities said an Israeli airstrike in the northern West Bank killed at least 10 people late Wednesday.

The Israeli military said the strike by a warplane targeted a Palestinian militant cell in the area based on intelligence.

Israel’s use of a jet fighter to strike the rural village of Tamoun late Wednesday marked the latest escalation in its intensifying crackdown on Palestinian militants in the occupied territory.

Residents of Tamoun said that the airstrike hit a house in a crowded neighborhood. The Palestinian Health Ministry cautioned that the death toll was likely to rise.

Before the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli airstrikes in the West Bank were relatively rare. Israel says its increased military raids are aimed at combating rising Palestinian militant attacks against Israelis, including shootings.

Palestinians say the extensive military operations — such as the ongoing raid in the Jenin refugee camp that has so far killed at least 18 Palestinians — only deepen resentment for Israel and prolong the cycle of bloodshed.

In a statement, Hamas mourned the men killed in Tamoun but did not claim them as members. It called on Palestinians across Israel and the occupied West Bank to mobilize against Israel in hopes of making it “pay the price for its crimes.”