Battle for Tripoli Enters Second Phase as LNA Pushes More Reinforcements

GNA forces seen in southern Tripoli, Libya, June 22, 2019. (Reuters)
GNA forces seen in southern Tripoli, Libya, June 22, 2019. (Reuters)
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Battle for Tripoli Enters Second Phase as LNA Pushes More Reinforcements

GNA forces seen in southern Tripoli, Libya, June 22, 2019. (Reuters)
GNA forces seen in southern Tripoli, Libya, June 22, 2019. (Reuters)

The Libyan National Army (LNA) announced the launch of the second phase of its operation to liberate Tripoli from criminal and terrorist militias.

The army, commanded by Khalifa Haftar, had kicked off the operation on April 4.

It brought in further reinforcements on all fronts to back the second phase of the battle.

After some four months of fighting, the LNA is still trying to breach the defenses of the Government of National Accord (GNA) in southern Tripoli.

Monday also witnessed a prisoner swap between the LNA and pro-GNA militias in the city of Bani Walid.

The army received two prisoners and handed two detainees, who were held in Tarhuna city for three months, to the militias.

In the east, residents of the city of Benghazi took to the streets to condemn Qatar and Turkey’s meddling in Libya’s internal affairs.

They accused Doha and Ankara of continuously supplying weapons to the militias that are destabilizing the country.

They also slammed the terrorist acts committed by these groups, including the bombing in the east that targeted the funeral of a former military official last week. The attack left five people dead and dozens wounded.



Israeli Strikes Kill 12 in Lebanon, including 5 Hezbollah Fighters

Women walk near destroyed buildings, with one holding the flag of Hezbollah, in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, after an Israeli military spokesperson said that Israel would keep troops in several posts in southern Lebanon past the deadline for them to withdraw, February 18, 2025 - Reuters reported.
Women walk near destroyed buildings, with one holding the flag of Hezbollah, in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, after an Israeli military spokesperson said that Israel would keep troops in several posts in southern Lebanon past the deadline for them to withdraw, February 18, 2025 - Reuters reported.
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Israeli Strikes Kill 12 in Lebanon, including 5 Hezbollah Fighters

Women walk near destroyed buildings, with one holding the flag of Hezbollah, in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, after an Israeli military spokesperson said that Israel would keep troops in several posts in southern Lebanon past the deadline for them to withdraw, February 18, 2025 - Reuters reported.
Women walk near destroyed buildings, with one holding the flag of Hezbollah, in the southern Lebanese village of Kfar Kila, after an Israeli military spokesperson said that Israel would keep troops in several posts in southern Lebanon past the deadline for them to withdraw, February 18, 2025 - Reuters reported.

Heavy Israeli airstrikes killed 12 people, including five Hezbollah fighters, in eastern Lebanon on Tuesday, a security source in Lebanon said, in what Israel said was a warning to the Iran-backed group against trying to re-establish itself.

The Israeli military said the airstrikes targeted training camps used by elite Hezbollah fighters and warehouses it used to store weapons in the Bekaa Valley region of eastern Lebanon.

The airstrikes were the deadliest on the area since a US-brokered ceasefire between Lebanon and Israel last November. Bachir Khodr, governor of the Bekaa region, said seven of the dead were Syrian nationals.

Israel dealt Hezbollah heavy blows in last year's conflict, killing its leader Hassan Nasrallah along with other commanders and destroying much of its arsenal.

Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Tuesday's strikes sent a "clear message" to Hezbollah, accusing it of planning to rebuild the capability to raid Israel through the elite Radwan force, Reuters reported.

Israel "will respond with maximum force to any attempt at rebuilding", he said. He added that strikes were also a message to the Lebanese government, saying it was responsible for upholding the ceasefire agreement.

There was no immediate public response from Hezbollah or from the Lebanese government to the latest Israeli strikes.

The United States has submitted a proposal to the Lebanese government aimed at securing Hezbollah's disarmament within four months in exchange for Israel halting airstrikes and withdrawing troops from positions they still hold in south Lebanon.

Under the terms of the ceasefire brokered by the US and France, Lebanon's armed forces were to confiscate "all unauthorized arms", beginning in the area south of the Litani River - the zone closest to Israel.