UN Warns Situation in Libya Could Get Out of Control

UN Warns Situation in Libya Could Get Out of Control
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UN Warns Situation in Libya Could Get Out of Control

UN Warns Situation in Libya Could Get Out of Control

The war in Libya will intensify, broaden and deepen with devastating consequences for the Libyan people, said acting head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).

Stephanie Williams called on the international community to prevent Libya from getting out of control.

Briefing the Security Council Tuesday, Williams said via videoconference that there has become “new depths of violence, heartlessness, and impunity.”

“Despite our determined efforts and the Secretary General’s plea for an immediate ceasefire to allow Libyans to respond to the common threat of COVID-19, I regret to report that there has been no lull in the fighting between the Government of National Accord (GNA) forces and General (Khalifa) Haftar’s Libyan National Army.”

Instead, she stressed, fighting has escalated with an unprecedented rate in indirect fire in urban areas and a growing tide of suffering for civilians.

As a result of the intensifying armed hostilities, coupled with the dire socio-economic impact of COVID-19 and including the loss of employment and livelihoods, a million people are now in need of some form of humanitarian assistance, she noted.

“This includes 400,000 internally displaced Libyans, along with 654,000 migrants, refugees and asylum seekers.”

Williams also pointed out that millions of Libyans, and most notably the two million residents of Tripoli, are experiencing a most abnormal and terrifying existence, under almost constant bombardment and frequent water and electricity cuts.

The UN official told members of the Security Council that there is an alarming military build-up as a result of the uninterrupted dispatch by the foreign backers of increasingly sophisticated and lethal weapons, not to mention the recruitment of more mercenaries to both sides of the conflict.

“After their successful bid to retake six cities on the coastal road west of Tripoli in April, GNA forces are now seeking to roll back the LNA’s foothold in southern Tripoli by forcing the redeployment of resources and disrupting their supply lines from the nearby city of Tarhouna,” she stated.

These recent successes, Williams added, have “emboldened” the GNA to show reluctance in reciprocating a unilaterally declared cessation of all military activities, which allowed its forces in early May to seize control of the Wutiya airbase.

“The control of this strategic airbase may trigger further escalation, turning the Libyan conflict into a pure proxy war,” Williams further noted.

The official pointed to the nearly non-stop daily shelling on Tripoli, and in particular Mitiga airport, since April 24.

She once again called for the immediate cessation of attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure, whilst calling on the GNA to restore the civilian nature of Mitiga airport.

“I am concerned about GNA UAV attacks over the past two months on vehicles travelling between Mazdah and Tarhouna as well as in Bani Walid, which caused collateral damage to vehicles carrying non-combat related items like food, goods, and fuel and resulted in civilian casualties.”

“Such attacks violate International Humanitarian Law and may amount to war crimes,” she stressed.



Netanyahu Denounces Tactical Pauses in Gaza Fighting to Get in Aid

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) attends the Knesset plenum vote on the ultra-Orthodox conscription to military service law, in the Knesset, Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, 10 June 2024. (EPA)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) attends the Knesset plenum vote on the ultra-Orthodox conscription to military service law, in the Knesset, Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, 10 June 2024. (EPA)
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Netanyahu Denounces Tactical Pauses in Gaza Fighting to Get in Aid

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) attends the Knesset plenum vote on the ultra-Orthodox conscription to military service law, in the Knesset, Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, 10 June 2024. (EPA)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (C) attends the Knesset plenum vote on the ultra-Orthodox conscription to military service law, in the Knesset, Israeli parliament in Jerusalem, 10 June 2024. (EPA)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized plans announced by the military on Sunday to hold daily tactical pauses in fighting along one of the main roads into Gaza to facilitate aid delivery into the Palestinian enclave.

The military had announced the daily pauses from 0500 GMT until 1600 GMT in the area from the Kerem Shalom Crossing to the Salah al-Din Road and then northwards.

"When the prime minister heard the reports of an 11-hour humanitarian pause in the morning, he turned to his military secretary and made it clear that this was unacceptable to him," an Israeli official said.

The military clarified that normal operations would continue in Rafah, the main focus of its operation in southern Gaza, where eight soldiers were killed on Saturday.

The reaction from Netanyahu underlined political tensions over the issue of aid coming into Gaza, where international organizations have warned of a growing humanitarian crisis.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who leads one of the nationalist religious parties in Netanyahu's ruling coalition, denounced the idea of a tactical pause, saying whoever decided it was a "fool" who should lose their job.

DIVISIONS BETWEEN COALITION, ARMY

The spat was the latest in a series of clashes between members of the coalition and the military over the conduct of the war, now in its ninth month.

It came a week after centrist former general Benny Gantz quit the government, accusing Netanyahu of having no effective strategy in Gaza.

The divisions were laid bare last week in a parliamentary vote on a law on conscripting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the military, with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant voting against it in defiance of party orders, saying it was insufficient for the needs of the military.

Religious parties in the coalition have strongly opposed conscription for the ultra-Orthodox, drawing widespread anger from many Israelis, which has deepened as the war has gone on.

Lieutenant-General Herzi Halevi, the head of the military, said on Sunday there was a "definite need" to recruit more soldiers from the fast-growing ultra-Orthodox community.

RESERVISTS UNDER STRAIN

Despite growing international pressure for a ceasefire, an agreement to halt the fighting still appears distant, more than eight months since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas fighters on Israel triggered a ground assault on the enclave by Israeli forces.

Since the attack, which killed some 1,200 Israelis and foreigners in Israeli communities, Israel's military campaign has killed more than 37,000 Palestinians, according to Palestinian health ministry figures, and destroyed much of Gaza.

Although opinion polls suggest most Israelis support the government's aim of destroying Hamas, there have been widespread protests attacking the government for not doing more to bring home around 120 hostages who are still in Gaza after being taken hostage on Oct. 7.

Meanwhile, Palestinian health officials said seven Palestinians were killed in two air strikes on two houses in Al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza Strip.

As fighting in Gaza has continued, a lower level conflict across the Israel-Lebanon border is now threatening to spiral into a wider war as near-daily exchanges of fire between Israeli forces and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militia have escalated.

In a further sign that fighting in Gaza could drag on, Netanyahu's government said on Sunday it was extending until Aug. 15 the period it would fund hotels and guest houses for residents evacuated from southern Israeli border towns.