Libya: Saleh Rallies Support Against Sarraj, Erdogan MoUs

Aguila Saleh, Libya's parliament president, speaks during the first session at parliament headquarters in Benghazi, Libya April 13, 2019. REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-Fetori
Aguila Saleh, Libya's parliament president, speaks during the first session at parliament headquarters in Benghazi, Libya April 13, 2019. REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-Fetori
TT
20

Libya: Saleh Rallies Support Against Sarraj, Erdogan MoUs

Aguila Saleh, Libya's parliament president, speaks during the first session at parliament headquarters in Benghazi, Libya April 13, 2019. REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-Fetori
Aguila Saleh, Libya's parliament president, speaks during the first session at parliament headquarters in Benghazi, Libya April 13, 2019. REUTERS/Esam Omran Al-Fetori

The head of Libya's parliament Aguila Saleh has launched a regional tour to rally support against the memoranda of understandings signed between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the head of the Libyan Government of National Accord, Fayez al-Sarraj.

On November 28, Ankara and Tripoli signed a memorandum on maritime boundaries in the Mediterranean Sea.

In Cairo, Saleh met with Arab Parliament President Mishaal bin Fahm Al-Salami.

The two discussed means the Arab Parliament can help in preventing the repercussions of the MoUs. One of the ways is withdrawing Arab and international support for Sarraj’s GNA.

Salami reiterated the call for all Libyan parties to resort to dialogue and preserve national unity.

“The political solution inside Libya will only take place with the agreement of the Libyan parties, away from all negative external interference in the Libyan internal affairs,” he affirmed.

Saleh, for his part, said: “The signing of this agreement without ratification by the Libyan House of Representatives aims to cede the sovereignty of the Libyan State and its legitimate rights to the Republic of Turkey to enable it to invest in this area, which is null and void by all standards.”

“Libya and Turkey do not have common maritime boundaries. There are several countries including Greece and Cyprus, in addition to the overlap of maritime borders with other countries, including the Arab Republic of Egypt, Syria, and Lebanon, as stipulated in the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,” he said.

Saleh also urged the United Nations not to acknowledge the legality of the document as the Libyan parliament does not recognize it.

On the other hand, the GNA acknowledged for the first time Monday, that its headquarters and Finance Ministry in the capital Tripoli were attacked by “armed militias.”

This followed a declaration by the interior minister saying that security was restored to the area.



Gaza Ceasefire Talks Held Up by Israel Withdrawal Plans

Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli army bombardment in the northern Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli army bombardment in the northern Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
TT
20

Gaza Ceasefire Talks Held Up by Israel Withdrawal Plans

Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli army bombardment in the northern Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Smoke rises to the sky following an Israeli army bombardment in the northern Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Thursday, July 10, 2025. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Indirect talks between Hamas and Israel for a ceasefire in Gaza are being held up by Israel's proposals to keep troops in the territory, two Palestinian sources with knowledge of the discussions told AFP on Saturday.

Delegations from both sides began discussions in Qatar last Sunday to try to agree on a temporary halt to the 21-month conflict sparked by Hamas's deadly attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Both Hamas and Israel have said that 10 living hostages who were taken that day and are still in captivity would be released if an agreement for a 60-day ceasefire were reached, reported Reuters.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that he hoped to clinch a deal "in a few days", which could then lead to talks for a more permanent end to hostilities.

But one Palestinian source, speaking anonymously due to the sensitivity of the talks, said Israel's refusal to accept Hamas's demand to withdraw all of its troops from Gaza was holding back progress.

Another said mediators had asked both sides to postpone the talks until the arrival of US President Donald Trump's special envoy, Steve Witkoff, in Doha.

"The negotiations in Doha are facing a setback and complex difficulties due to Israel's insistence, as of Friday, on presenting a map of withdrawal, which is actually a map of redeployment and repositioning of the Israeli army rather than a genuine withdrawal," one Palestinian source said.

The source said Israel was proposing to maintain military forces in more than 40 percent of the Palestinian territory, forcing hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians into a small area near the city of Rafah, on the border with Egypt, they added.

"Hamas's delegation will not accept the Israeli maps... as they essentially legitimize the reoccupation of approximately half of the Gaza Strip and turn Gaza into isolated zones with no crossings or freedom of movement," the source said.

A second Palestinian source accused the Israeli delegation of having no authority, and "stalling and obstructing the agreement in order to continue the war of extermination".

- Latest strikes -

The Gaza war began after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, resulting in the deaths of at least 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli figures.

Of the 251 hostages seized, 49 are still being held, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.

At least 57,823 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, have been killed since the start of the war, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

Gaza's civil defense agency said at least 14 Palestinians were killed in the latest wave of Israeli strikes across the territory on Saturday.

More than 30 people were killed on Friday, including 10 people who were waiting for aid handouts, the agency said.

The Israeli military on Saturday said it had attacked "approximately 250 terrorist targets throughout the Gaza Strip" in the last 48 hours.

Targets included "terrorists, booby-trapped structures, weapons storage facilities, anti-tank missile launch posts, sniper posts, tunnels and additional terrorist infrastructure sites", it added.

Two previous ceasefires -- a week-long truce beginning in late November 2023 and a two-month one from mid-January this year -- led to the release of 105 hostages in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

The second Palestinian source said "some progress" had been made in the latest talks on plans for releasing Palestinian prisoners held by Israel and getting more aid to Gaza.

Netanyahu, who is under domestic and international pressure to end the war, said this week that neutralizing Hamas as a security threat was a prerequisite for any long-term ceasefire talks.

That included the group giving up weapons, he said, warning that failure to do so would mean Israel would have to do so by force.