Libya Seeks Inspiration From Moroccan Experience in Reconciliation

Liberian Foreign Minister Gbehzohngar Findley with Morocco's Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita. Photo: Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Liberian Foreign Minister Gbehzohngar Findley with Morocco's Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita. Photo: Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs
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Libya Seeks Inspiration From Moroccan Experience in Reconciliation

Liberian Foreign Minister Gbehzohngar Findley with Morocco's Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita. Photo: Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Liberian Foreign Minister Gbehzohngar Findley with Morocco's Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita. Photo: Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Libyan Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Abdul-Hadi al-Hawaij has said that Libya wants to benefit from Morocco’s experience in the field of reconciliation, recalling that the Equity and Reconciliation Commission has made it possible for the Kingdom to address past human rights violations.

Hawaij arrived in Rabat on Friday carrying a message from Speaker of the Libyan House of Representatives Aguila Saleh to King Mohammed VI on the Libyan crisis developments and the leading role Morocco can play in finding a solution.

In a press statement after delivering the message to Morocco's Foreign Affairs Nasser Bourita, he said: “We are advocates of peace and dialogue and we extend our hand to all like-minded people in order to put an end to the chaos, within a framework of national harmony, backed by an equitable distribution of wealth.”

“We intend to persevere on the path of dialogue,” he said, adding that “Morocco is capable of playing a leading role in resolving the Libyan crisis.”

The Libyan FM commended “the support, farsightedness, and leadership” of King Mohammed VI at the regional, African and international levels. Morocco has “no other interest than the security and stability of Libya,” Hawaij said.

The envoy said that his meeting with Bourita also focused on the creation of a Morocco-Libyan economic forum.

Further, Bourita met with Liberian Foreign Minister Gbehzohngar Findley in Rabat who is on a business visit to Morocco currently.

Morocco and Liberia have regular contacts and permanent exchanges on the means to promote cooperation, Bourita said in a press briefing after the talks. A multidisciplinary Moroccan mission will be sent to Liberia to explore areas of bilateral cooperation, particularly in the fields of vocational training, energy, and agriculture, he added.

The two countries have agreed to further strengthen their coordination at regional and international organizations, the Moroccan FM added.



Israeli Defense Minister Says He Will End Detention without Charge of Jewish Settlers

Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
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Israeli Defense Minister Says He Will End Detention without Charge of Jewish Settlers

Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)

Israel’s new defense minister said Friday that he would stop issuing warrants to arrest West Bank settlers or hold them without charge or trial — a largely symbolic move that rights groups said risks emboldening settler violence in the Israeli-occupied territory.

Israel Katz called the arrest warrants “severe” and said issuing them was “inappropriate” as Palestinian militant attacks on settlers in the territory grow more frequent. He said settlers could be “brought to justice” in other ways.

The move protects Israeli settlers from being held in “administrative detention,” a shadowy form of incarceration where people are held without charge or trial.

Settlers are rarely arrested in the West Bank, where settler violence against Palestinians has spiraled since the outbreak of the war Oct. 7.

Katz’s decision was celebrated by far-right coalition allies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. National Security Minister and settler firebrand Itamar Ben-Gvir applauded Katz and called the move a “correction of many years of mistreatment” and “justice for those who love the land.”

Since Oct. 7, 2023, violence toward Palestinians by Israeli settlers has soared to new heights, displacing at least 19 entire Palestinian communities, according to Israeli rights group Peace Now. In that time, attacks by Palestinian militants on settlers and within Israel have also grown more common.

An increasing number of Palestinians have been placed in administrative detention. Israel holds 3,443 administrative detainees in prison, according to data from the Israeli Prison Service, reported by rights group Hamoked. That figure stood around 1,200 just before the start of the war. The vast majority of them are Palestinian, with only a handful at any given time Israeli Jews, said Jessica Montell, the director of Hamoked.

“All of these detentions without charge or trial are illegitimate, but to declare that this measure will only be used against Palestinians...is to explicitly entrench another form of ethnic discrimination,” said Montell.