Meeting Between Arab League, Libyan Delegation Fails

Forces loyal to the Government of National Accord take a position during clashes with forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar south of Tripoli. AFP file photo
Forces loyal to the Government of National Accord take a position during clashes with forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar south of Tripoli. AFP file photo
TT

Meeting Between Arab League, Libyan Delegation Fails

Forces loyal to the Government of National Accord take a position during clashes with forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar south of Tripoli. AFP file photo
Forces loyal to the Government of National Accord take a position during clashes with forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar south of Tripoli. AFP file photo

A meeting held in Cairo on Sunday between a number of Libyan lawmakers and the Arab League General Secretariat failed to produce any results after the visiting delegation rejected the organization’s support for the Skhirat agreement.

Arab diplomatic sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the MPs said the parliament, which has been elected by the people, should be considered a legitimate institution and not a “trusteeship” council imposed by the international community, in reference to the Presidential Council in Tripoli.

A League Secretariat source “regretted what some members did upon their arrival at the headquarters,” saying it was clear that a number of deputies deliberately wanted for the meeting to fail.

“The League is doing its best to reach a peaceful and consensual solution for the Libyan crisis,” asserted the source.

The Libyan parliament delegation arrived in Cairo two days ago and met with the Egyptian National Committee on Libya, which includes representatives from most Egyptian “sovereign” sides.

The meetings are part of a series of talks hosted in Cairo to bring together different Libyan parties for the sake of achieving stability and security in the war-torn state. The committee invited around 80 Libyan lawmakers representing the country’s west, south and east.

The committee's discussions aim to unify Libyan powers, and consolidate the Libyan Parliament’s role in restructuring the country.



Israel Carries Out More Airstrikes Deep inside Lebanon

File photo: This picture taken from an Israeli position along the border with southern Lebanon shows smoke billowing above the Lebanese village of Adaisseh during Israeli bombardment on January 22, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza. (AFP)
File photo: This picture taken from an Israeli position along the border with southern Lebanon shows smoke billowing above the Lebanese village of Adaisseh during Israeli bombardment on January 22, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza. (AFP)
TT

Israel Carries Out More Airstrikes Deep inside Lebanon

File photo: This picture taken from an Israeli position along the border with southern Lebanon shows smoke billowing above the Lebanese village of Adaisseh during Israeli bombardment on January 22, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza. (AFP)
File photo: This picture taken from an Israeli position along the border with southern Lebanon shows smoke billowing above the Lebanese village of Adaisseh during Israeli bombardment on January 22, 2024, amid ongoing cross-border tensions as fighting continues between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza. (AFP)

Israeli warplanes carried three airstrikes deep into eastern Lebanon on Friday for the second time since a ceasefire ended the war between Hezbollah and Israel a month ago, Lebanon’s state-run news agency said.
No casualties were reported in the strikes on the Bekaa Valley town of Qousaya and the target remained unclear. The Israeli military said its air force struck “infrastructure used to smuggle weapons via Syria” to Hezbollah near the Janta crossing on the Syrian-Lebanese border, about 9 kilometers (5 miles) north of Qousaya. Israel accused Hezbollah’s Unit 4400 of overseeing smuggling operations from Iran through Syria, adding that it had killed the unit’s commander in early October, reported The Associated Press.
Since the ceasefire took effect on Nov. 27, the Israeli army has conducted near-daily operations in southern Lebanon, including shootings, house demolitions, excavations, tank shelling and airstrikes. These actions have killed at least 27 people, wounded more than 30 and destroyed residential buildings, including a mosque.
The United Nations peacekeeping mission, UNIFIL, said it has observed “concerning actions” by Israeli forces, including the destruction of homes and road closures.
On Thursday, the Lebanese army accused Israeli troops of breaching the ceasefire by encroaching into southern Lebanon. Israeli bulldozers erected dirt barricades to block roads in Wadi Al-Hujayr.
The Lebanese army later on Thursday said that following intervention by the ceasefire supervision committee, Israeli forces withdrew, and Lebanese soldiers removed the barriers to reopen the road in the area.
The US-brokered ceasefire, which ended the 14-month war, demands that Hezbollah and Israeli forces withdraw from southern Lebanon within 60 days, allowing Lebanese troops to gradually deploy south of the Litani River.