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Turkish Opposition Defends Journalists over Death Report of Intel Member in Libya

Boy welcoming Turkish troops with their national flag (Reuters)
Boy welcoming Turkish troops with their national flag (Reuters)
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Turkish Opposition Defends Journalists over Death Report of Intel Member in Libya

Boy welcoming Turkish troops with their national flag (Reuters)
Boy welcoming Turkish troops with their national flag (Reuters)

Head of the Republican People's Party‎ (CHP) Kemal Kilicdaroglu demanded the immediate release of journalists detained on the background of reporting the death of Turkish intelligence agent in Libya and his secret burial in Turkey.

Last March, Turkish authorities arrested six journalists for reporting the death of a member of the Turkish Intelligence Service in Libya. A news website also posted a video which it said was for the secret burial ceremony in Manisa, west of Turkey.

Kilicdaroglu, who is head of Turkey’s largest opposition party, strongly condemned the indictment against the journalists who were arrested for “violating the intelligence law” and sentenced between seven to 18 years.

Meanwhile, Turkey called on the international community to take immediate action after the Libyan National Army (LNA) commander, Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, announced himself as “ruler of Libya.”

Ankara accused Haftar of seeking to “create a military dictatorship” and renewed its support to the Government of National Accord (GNA), chaired by Fayez al-Sarraj.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement that Haftar's announcement of himself as governor "confirms his rejection of political dialogue and international efforts, including the results of the Berlin Conference, and again shows his goal of establishing a military dictatorship in Libya."

The Foreign Ministry issued a statement indicating that this announcement demonstrated, once again, that Haftar “does not seek a political solution to the crisis in Libya.”

It said Haftar worsened the humanitarian situation with his attacks in Libya, and blocked oil production, water supply, and even "prevented the supply of medical equipment needed by the Libyan people" during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The statement urged the international community to respond to Haftar, who undoubtedly exposed his intention to establish a junta regime in Libya.

It asserted that Turkey will continue to stand by the brotherly Libyan people in defending GNA and all other legitimate institutions of Libya.

Also, Justice and Development (AK) Party accused Haftar of being a coup plotter and asserted Turkey’s continuous support to the GNA.

“Haftar attempted a coup. He tries to give himself some authorities that have no legal basis,” said AK’s spokesman Omer Celik.

Speaking at a press videoconference after the party’s board meeting, Celik stressed that Turkey will stand behind the UN-recognized government and continue to support them for the sake of Libyan people's future.

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Hundreds of Thousands Flee as Israel Seizes Rafah in New Gaza 'Security Zone'

A youth rides a bicycle as people commute along the al-Rashid road, the only route linking the northern and southern parts of the Palestinian territory, on April 2, 2025. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)
A youth rides a bicycle as people commute along the al-Rashid road, the only route linking the northern and southern parts of the Palestinian territory, on April 2, 2025. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)
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Hundreds of Thousands Flee as Israel Seizes Rafah in New Gaza 'Security Zone'

A youth rides a bicycle as people commute along the al-Rashid road, the only route linking the northern and southern parts of the Palestinian territory, on April 2, 2025. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)
A youth rides a bicycle as people commute along the al-Rashid road, the only route linking the northern and southern parts of the Palestinian territory, on April 2, 2025. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)

Hundreds of thousands of fleeing Gazans sought shelter on Thursday in one of the biggest mass displacements of the war, as Israeli forces advanced into the ruins of the city of Rafah, part of a newly announced "security zone" they intend to seize.

A day after declaring their intention to capture large swathes of the crowded enclave, Israeli force pushed into the city on Gaza's southern edge which had served as a last refuge for people fleeing other areas for much of the war, reported Reuters.

Gaza's health ministry reported at least 97 people killed in Israeli strikes in the past 24 hours, including at least 20 killed in an airstrike around dawn in Shejaia suburb of Gaza City.

Rafah "is gone, it is being wiped out," a father of seven among the hundreds of thousands who had fled from Rafah to neighboring Khan Younis, told Reuters via a chat app.

"They are knocking down what is left standing of houses and property," said the man who declined to be identified for fear of repercussions.

After a strike killed several people in Khan Younis, Adel Abu Fakher was checking the damage to his tent.

"Is anything left for us? There’s nothing left for us. We’re being killed while asleep," he said.

The assault to capture Rafah is a major escalation in the war, which Israel restarted last month after effectively abandoning a ceasefire in place since January.

GAZANS FEAR PERMANENT DEPOPULATION

Israel has not spelled out its longterm aims for the security zone its troops are now seizing. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayahu said troops were taking an area he called the "Morag Axis", a reference to an abandoned former Israeli settlement once located between Rafah on Gaza's southern edge and the adjacent main southern city Khan Younis.

Gazans who had returned to homes in the ruins during the ceasefire have now been ordered to flee communities on the northern and southern edges of the strip.

They fear that Israel's intention is to depopulate those areas indefinitely, leaving many hundreds of thousands of people permanently homeless in one of the poorest and most crowded territories on earth. The security zone includes some of Gaza's last agricultural land and critical water infrastructure.

Since the first phase of the ceasefire expired at the start of March with no agreement to prolong it, Israel has imposed a total blockade on all goods reaching Gaza's 2.3 million residents, recreating what international organizations describe as a humanitarian catastrophe after weeks of relative calm.

Israel's stated goal since the start of the war has been the destruction of the Hamas group which ran Gaza for nearly two decades and led the attack on Israeli communities in October 2023 that precipitated the war.

But with no effort made to establish an alternative administration, Hamas-led police returned to the streets during the ceasefire. Fighters still hold 59 dead and living hostages which Israel says must be handed over to extend the truce; Hamas says it will free them only under a deal that ends the war.

Israeli leaders say they have been encouraged by signs of protest in Gaza against Hamas, with hundreds of people demonstrating in north Gaza's Beit Lahiya on Wednesday opposing the war and demanding Hamas quit power. Hamas calls the protesters collaborators and says Israel is behind them.

The war began with a Hamas attack on Israeli communities on October 7, 2023 with gunmen killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages according to Israeli tallies. Israel's campaign has so far killed more than 50,000 Palestinians, Gaza health authorities say.

Rafah residents said most of the local population had followed Israel's order to leave, as Israeli strikes toppled buildings there. But a strike on the main road between Khan Younis and Rafah stopped most movement between the two cities.

Movement of people and traffic along the western coastal road near Morag was also limited by bombardment, said residents.

"Others stayed because they don't know where to go, or got fed up of being displaced several times. We are afraid they might be killed or at best detained," said Basem, a resident of Rafah who declined to give a second name.

Markets have emptied and prices for basic necessities have soared under Israel's total blockade of food, medicine and fuel.

The Palestinian Health Ministry, which is based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank but has nominal authority over hospitals in Gaza, said Gaza's entire healthcare system was at risk of collapse.