Libyan Activists Refuse to Hand Over Saif al-Islam Gaddafi to ICC

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi attends a hearing behind bars in a courtroom in Zintan (File photo: Reuters)
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi attends a hearing behind bars in a courtroom in Zintan (File photo: Reuters)
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Libyan Activists Refuse to Hand Over Saif al-Islam Gaddafi to ICC

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi attends a hearing behind bars in a courtroom in Zintan (File photo: Reuters)
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi attends a hearing behind bars in a courtroom in Zintan (File photo: Reuters)

Libyan parties have rejected the trial of Saif al-Islam, son of late Muammar al-Gaddafi, at the International Criminal Court (ICC) after Libya’s representative at the court, Ahmed al-Jehani, agreed to bring him to The Hague.

Saif al-Islam is wanted on charges relating to the attempt to suppress the revolution that ousted his father in 2011.

Jehani announced before the tribunal, the approval of Tripoli’s government the request to hand over Gaddafi's son to ICC for trial on “war crimes.”

Political leader of the Libyan National Struggle Front (LNSF) Ahmed Gaddaf al-Dam indicated that the go-ahead of Libya’s representative is not any different than the demands of some Libyans asking NATO to attack their country. He said this constitutes a “betrayal” that the country still suffers from.

Gaddaf al-Dam, who is Saif al-Islam’s cousin, added that this has divided Libyans into two camps - the first representing Gaddafi’s defense team. The second constituted of Justice Minister Mohamed Lamloum of the Government of National Accord and al- Jehani, who insisted on handing over a Libyan citizen to the ICC.

Lamloum responded to Gaddafi’s defense team by saying even if some of the crimes attributed to Saif al-Islam were covered by the amnesty law, the conditions for granting him an amnesty were not present.

He added that the law stipulates a written pledge to apologize, reconciliation with the victim, and pardon from relatives of the victims, which Saif al-Islam did not get.

Parties loyal to Gaddafi rejected the representative’s approval describing it as a “humiliation to the Libyan people.”

Libyan lawyer Khalid al-Ghuwail told Asharq Al-Awsat that the case is not legal because the prosecution decision was made following a memorandum issued by the Security Council, and therefore this case is political and doesn’t have a legal basis.

Ghuwail said the case was based on false accusations, given that Saif al-Islam did not hold any position under the previous regime and was a civil society activist.

In July 2015, a Tripoli court sentenced Saif al-Islam to death for his role in suppressing the Libyan uprising that toppled his father's regime. He is facing the same charges by the ICC.

In 2017, an armed battalion in the western city of Zintan released Saif al-Islam, who has not been seen in a public since then. ICC General Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda predicted in a recent report that he would be in Zintan.



52 Palestinians Including Children Killed in Israeli Airstrikes in Gaza

Palestinians inspect the destruction at a makeshift displacement camp following a reported incursion a day earlier by Israeli tanks in the area in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza strip on July 11, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Palestinians inspect the destruction at a makeshift displacement camp following a reported incursion a day earlier by Israeli tanks in the area in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza strip on July 11, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
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52 Palestinians Including Children Killed in Israeli Airstrikes in Gaza

Palestinians inspect the destruction at a makeshift displacement camp following a reported incursion a day earlier by Israeli tanks in the area in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza strip on July 11, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Palestinians inspect the destruction at a makeshift displacement camp following a reported incursion a day earlier by Israeli tanks in the area in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza strip on July 11, 2025. (Photo by AFP)

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 28 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including four children, hospital officials said Saturday. Also, 24 others were fatally shot on their way to aid distribution sites.

The children and two women were among at least 13 people who were killed in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, after Israeli airstrikes pounded the area starting late Friday, officials in Al-Aqsa Martyr's Hospital said. Another four people were killed in strikes near a fuel station, and 15 others died in Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, according to Nasser Hospital.

The Israeli military said in a statement that over the past 48 hours, troops struck approximately 250 targets in the Gaza Strip, including militants, booby-trapped structures, weapons storage facilities, anti-tank missile launch posts, sniper posts, tunnels and additional Hamas infrastructure sites. The military did not immediately respond to The Associated Press' request for comment on the civilian deaths.

The Hamas-led group killed some 1,200 people in their Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and abducted 251. They still hold 50 hostages, less than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Israel’s offensive has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, which is under Gaza’s Hamas-run government, doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count. The UN and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.

US President Donald Trump has said that he is closing in on another ceasefire agreement that would see more hostages released and potentially wind down the war. But after two days of talks this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu there were no signs of a breakthrough.