Opposition Parties Reject Any Turkish Activity in Tunisia

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan meets with Tunisia's President Kais Saied in Tunis, Tunisia, December 25, 2019. Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Turkish Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERS
Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan meets with Tunisia's President Kais Saied in Tunis, Tunisia, December 25, 2019. Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Turkish Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERS
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Opposition Parties Reject Any Turkish Activity in Tunisia

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan meets with Tunisia's President Kais Saied in Tunis, Tunisia, December 25, 2019. Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Turkish Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERS
Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan meets with Tunisia's President Kais Saied in Tunis, Tunisia, December 25, 2019. Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Turkish Presidential Press Office/Handout via REUTERS

Six opposition parties announced their absolute rejection of any Turkish activity on Tunisian soil, urging authorities to avoid their vague approach towards Turkish actions in Tunisia that are aimed at supporting militias and terrorists.

The parties also demanded on authorities to take “a clear stance that rejects foreign military presence in the region.”

The leftist Workers’ Party, the Popular Front, the Socialist Party, Baath Movement, as well as the Tunisia Forward and al-Qutb party denounced any attempt “to involve Tunisia in the regional hubs' game at the expense of its national security as well as the Libyan people’s security and stability.”

Head of the Workers’ Party Hamma Hammami called on the President, Kais Saied, to take a clear stance on Turkey's military efforts in the region that pose major threat to regional peace and security.

He stressed that: “Turkey is indirectly participating by sending mercenaries from Syria to Libya and directly by providing aid to one of the parties to the conflict.”

Head of the opposition Project of Tunisia Movement Mohsen Marzouk, for his part, considered the presidency’s approval on the landing of a Turkish plane at one of Tunis's airports “a deviation in Tunisia’s position, which was supposed to be neutral in the Libyan conflict.”

He noted that the plane was loaded with medical equipment destined for a specific party in the Libyan internal conflict.

Marzouk said the presidency’s decision may raise doubts that Tunisia is involved in a specific international hub led by Turkey, which has been militarily involved in the Libyan conflict, “without any noticeable humanitarian action there.”

Turkey has been using Libyan sea and airports for a while now to transport weapons and terrorist elements to fight in Libya.



Israeli Forces Surround Lebanon’s Khiam Ahead of Storming it

Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike on the village of al-Khiam in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, northern Israel, 22 November 2024, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. (EPA)
Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike on the village of al-Khiam in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, northern Israel, 22 November 2024, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. (EPA)
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Israeli Forces Surround Lebanon’s Khiam Ahead of Storming it

Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike on the village of al-Khiam in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, northern Israel, 22 November 2024, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. (EPA)
Smoke rises as a result of an Israeli airstrike on the village of al-Khiam in southern Lebanon, as seen from the Israeli side of the border, northern Israel, 22 November 2024, amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel. (EPA)

Israeli forces have blocked supply routes to the southern Lebanese border city of al-Khiam ahead of storming it.

They have also surrounded the strategic city with Hezbollah fighters still inside, launching artillery and air attacks against them.

Hezbollah fighters have been holding out in Khiam for 25 days. The capture of the city would be significant and allow Israeli forces easier passage into southern Lebanon.

Field sources said Israeli forces have already entered some neighborhoods of Khiam from its eastern and southern outskirts, expanding their incursion into its northern and eastern sectors to fully capture the city.

They cast doubt on claims that the city has been fully captured, saying fighting is still taking place deeper inside its streets and alleys, citing the ongoing artillery fire and drone and air raids.

Israel has already cut off Hezbollah’s supply routes by seizing control of Bourj al-Mamlouk, Tall al-Nahas and olive groves in al-Qlaa in the Marayoun region. Its forces have also fanned out to the west towards the Litani River.

The troops have set up a “line of fire” spanning at least seven kms around Khiam to deter anti-tank attacks from Hezbollah and to launch artillery, drone and aerial attacks, said the sources.

The intense pressure has forced Hezbollah to resort to suicide drone attacks against Israeli forces.

Hezbollah’s al-Manar television said Israeli forces tried to carry out a new incursion towards Khiam’s northern neighborhoods.

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that since Friday night, Israeli forces have been using “all forms of weapons in their attempt to capture Khiam, which Israel views as a strategic gateway through which it can make rapid ground advances.”

It reported an increase in air and artillery attacks in the past two days as the forces try to storm the city.

The troops are trying to advance on Khiam by first surrounding it from all sides under air cover, it continued.

They are also booby-trapping some homes and buildings and then destroying them, similar to what they have done in other southern towns, such as Adeisseh, Yaround, Aitaroun and Mais al-Jabal.

Khiam holds symbolic significance to the Lebanese people because it was the first city liberated following Israel’s implementation of United Nations Security Council 425 on May 25, 2000, that led to its withdrawal from the South in a day that Hezbollah has since declared Liberation Day.