Confrontations Renew Between Tunisian Security, Protesters in Tataouine

Protestors stage a sit-in outside the oil and gas plant in El Kamour, in Tunisia’s southern state of Tatatouine (AFP)
Protestors stage a sit-in outside the oil and gas plant in El Kamour, in Tunisia’s southern state of Tatatouine (AFP)
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Confrontations Renew Between Tunisian Security, Protesters in Tataouine

Protestors stage a sit-in outside the oil and gas plant in El Kamour, in Tunisia’s southern state of Tatatouine (AFP)
Protestors stage a sit-in outside the oil and gas plant in El Kamour, in Tunisia’s southern state of Tatatouine (AFP)

Protests and clashes broke out again on Friday between protesters and army units in Remada city, in Tunisia’s Tataouine state.

This comes in light of the shooting incident against Mansour al-Taroumi on Tuesday evening near the Tunisian-Libyan border.

Protesters burned tires and closed the roads using containers and rocks to prevent army vehicles from entering the neighborhoods as security units chased demonstrators inside residential compounds.

The military judiciary launched a probe to determine the incident’s ramifications and find out whether the young man died from the bullets fired by soldiers at four cars that were smuggled from Libya.

President Kais Saied warned on Thursday of the dangers of attempting to drag the army into internal political struggles amid ongoing protests in Tataouine.

During a meeting of the National Security Council, the President warned of the gravity of the situation, noting that some unnamed parties are trying to harm the state by targeting its institutions and trying to diminish its authority in some regions.

Few hours earlier, more than 100 people gathered near oil facilities southeastern Tunisia to denounce the marginalization and demand job opportunities and investments, according to an AFP photographer.

On Thursday, dozens of people staged a sit-in outside the oil and gas plant in El Kamour desert area.

Mostly youth, protesters set up tents and prevented trucks of the six petroleum companies involved in extracting oil and gas from passing.

Saied said in a video released on the presidential official Facebook page that the “situation in the south is not acceptable.”

He affirmed the “legitimacy” of these protests, noting that he is ready to receive any of the protesters to hold talks and reach a settlement.

The Kamour movement, which has been leading the local protests since 2017, called on the government to provide more job opportunities and put an end to regional development inequality.

Protesters demand that the government implement the terms of an agreement concluded in 2017, which provides for jobs and investments in the marginalized region.



France Cools Expectations of Swift Palestinian State Recognition

 France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot delivers a speech during the inauguration of the Choiseul Library as the first site labeled "Heritage of Diplomacy" ("Patrimoine de la Diplomacie") in Versailles, near Paris on June 5, 2025. (AFP)
France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot delivers a speech during the inauguration of the Choiseul Library as the first site labeled "Heritage of Diplomacy" ("Patrimoine de la Diplomacie") in Versailles, near Paris on June 5, 2025. (AFP)
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France Cools Expectations of Swift Palestinian State Recognition

 France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot delivers a speech during the inauguration of the Choiseul Library as the first site labeled "Heritage of Diplomacy" ("Patrimoine de la Diplomacie") in Versailles, near Paris on June 5, 2025. (AFP)
France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Jean-Noel Barrot delivers a speech during the inauguration of the Choiseul Library as the first site labeled "Heritage of Diplomacy" ("Patrimoine de la Diplomacie") in Versailles, near Paris on June 5, 2025. (AFP)

France on Friday dampened expectations Paris could rapidly recognize a Palestinian state, with the French foreign minister saying while it was "determined" to make such a move, recognition had to be more than "symbolic".

France is due later this month to co-host with Saudi Arabia a UN conference in New York on a two-state solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.

There had been expectations that France could recognize a Palestinian state during that conference, with President Emmanuel Macron also growing increasingly frustrated with Israel's blocking of aid to the Palestinians in the war-torn Gaza Strip.

"France could have taken a symbolic decision. But this is not the choice we made because we have a particular responsibility" as a permanent member of the UN Security Council, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said, while saying Paris was still "determined" to make the move.

Several EU countries including Ireland, Spain and Sweden recognize a Palestinian state. But Germany, while backing a two-state solution, has said recognition now would send the "wrong signal".

France is reportedly working closely on the issue with the United Kingdom, which also so far has not recognized a Palestinian state, at a time when French-British diplomatic ties are becoming increasingly tight after Brexit.

Macron on Thursday said that he expected the conference in New York would take steps "towards recognizing Palestine", without being more specific.

He has said he hopes French recognition of a Palestinian state would encourage other governments to do the same and that countries who do not recognize Israel should do so.

Barrot meanwhile also stressed the "absolute necessity" to address the issue of the disarmament of Palestinian group Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip.

Hamas's unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Militants abducted 251 hostages, 55 of whom remain in Gaza, including 32 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel's retaliatory offensive in Hamas-run Gaza has killed 54,677 people, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry there, figures the United Nations deems reliable.

Relations between Israel and France have deteriorated over the last weeks, with Israel's foreign ministry accusing Macron of undertaking a "crusade against the Jewish state" after he called on European countries to harden their stance if the humanitarian situation in Gaza did not improve.