Tensions Ease on Libya Frontlines during Adha

Livestock market in Tajoura, south-east of the Libyan capital Tripoli (File photo: AFP)
Livestock market in Tajoura, south-east of the Libyan capital Tripoli (File photo: AFP)
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Tensions Ease on Libya Frontlines during Adha

Livestock market in Tajoura, south-east of the Libyan capital Tripoli (File photo: AFP)
Livestock market in Tajoura, south-east of the Libyan capital Tripoli (File photo: AFP)

Clashes between the Libyan National Army (LNA) and forces loyal to the Government of National Accord (GNA) eased on the fronts of Sirte and al-Jufra during Eid al-Adha as officials issued statements on the occasion.

Speaker Aguila Saleh urged all people to reject discord, overcome differences and uphold the interest of the country to preserve its unity, pride and dignity.

In a statement on the eve of the Eid, Saleh called for unity to confront all the dangers that could threaten the country to achieve security and stability and overcome this difficult stage.

The Speaker hoped that next year, Libyans would achieve a real consensus that leads to the unity of state institutions and the formation of a government which meets their expectations.

Saleh has returned to his residence in al-Qubbah in eastern Libya after a two-day visit to Jordan.

As for the LNA leader, Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, he extended his congratulations on the occasion of the Eid, without sending any political messages. However, the GNA affirmed its full confidence in the people's ability to overcome the crises and have a better future.

Head of GNA Fayez al-Sarraj said he received a phone call from Tunisian President Kais Saied on the occasion of the Eid, during which discussed the recent developments in Libya and ways to enhance bilateral relations between the two countries.

Meanwhile, the National Oil Corporation (NOC) said that the emergency team of the “Mellitah Oil and Gas” company managed to put out a fire that broke out in the Central Bank in Martyrs’ Square caused by a short circuit.

The Corporation extended its congratulations to the Libyan people, on the occasion of Eid al-Adha, hoping that security will prevail across the country. It wished all Libyans unity, especially in these circumstances and the outbreak of the coronavirus.

Earlier, NOC indicated that the number of mercenaries at Ras Lanuf petrochemical complex has recently increased, warning that their presence constitutes a threat to the safety of workers and industrial facilities within the complex.

“There are also a large number of military personnel in worker housing inside the residential area of Ras Lanuf town, in a flagrant violation of the law’s privacy and security,” said the statement.



Amnesty Accuses Israel of 'Live-streamed Genocide' against Gaza Palestinians

TOPSHOT - Palestinians inspect the damage after an Israeli strike on the Yafa school building, a school-turned-shelter, in Gaza City on April 23, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
TOPSHOT - Palestinians inspect the damage after an Israeli strike on the Yafa school building, a school-turned-shelter, in Gaza City on April 23, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
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Amnesty Accuses Israel of 'Live-streamed Genocide' against Gaza Palestinians

TOPSHOT - Palestinians inspect the damage after an Israeli strike on the Yafa school building, a school-turned-shelter, in Gaza City on April 23, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
TOPSHOT - Palestinians inspect the damage after an Israeli strike on the Yafa school building, a school-turned-shelter, in Gaza City on April 23, 2025. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

Amnesty International on Tuesday accused Israel of committing a "live-streamed genocide" against Palestinians in Gaza by forcibly displacing most of the population and deliberately creating a humanitarian catastrophe.

In its annual report, Amnesty charged that Israel had acted with "specific intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza, thus committing genocide".

Israel has rejected accusations of "genocide" from Amnesty, other rights groups and some states in its war in Gaza.

The conflict erupted after the Palestinian group Hamas's deadly October 7, 2023 attacks inside Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

Hamas also abducted 251 people, 58 of whom are still held in Gaza, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel in response launched a relentless bombardment of the Gaza Strip and a ground operation that according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory has left at least 52,243 dead.

"Since 7 October 2023, when Hamas perpetrated horrific crimes against Israeli citizens and others and captured more than 250 hostages, the world has been made audience to a live-streamed genocide," Amnesty's secretary general Agnes Callamard said in the introduction to the report.

"States watched on as if powerless, as Israel killed thousands upon thousands of Palestinians, wiping out entire multigenerational families, destroying homes, livelihoods, hospitals and schools," she added.

'Extreme levels of suffering'

Gaza's civil defense agency said early Tuesday that four people were killed and others injured in an Israeli air strike on displaced persons' tents near the Al-Iqleem area in Southern Gaza.

The agency earlier warned fuel shortages meant it had been forced to suspend eight out of 12 emergency vehicles in Southern Gaza, including ambulances.

The lack of fuel "threatens the lives of hundreds of thousands of citizens and displaced persons in shelter centers," it said in a statement.

Amnesty's report said the Israeli campaign had left most of the Palestinians of Gaza "displaced, homeless, hungry, at risk of life-threatening diseases and unable to access medical care, power or clean water".

Amnesty said that throughout 2024 it had "documented multiple war crimes by Israel, including direct attacks on civilians and civilian objects, and indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks".

It said Israel's actions forcibly displaced 1.9 million Palestinians, around 90 percent of Gaza's population, and "deliberately engineered an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe".

Even as protesters hit the streets in Western capitals, "the world's governments individually and multilaterally failed repeatedly to take meaningful action to end the atrocities and were slow even in calling for a ceasefire".

Meanwhile, Amnesty also sounded alarm over Israeli actions in the occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank, and repeated an accusation that Israel was employing a system of "apartheid".

"Israel's system of apartheid became increasingly violent in the occupied West Bank, marked by a sharp increase in unlawful killings and state-backed attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinian civilians," it said.

Heba Morayef, Amnesty director for the Middle East and North Africa region, denounced "the extreme levels of suffering that Palestinians in Gaza have been forced to endure on a daily basis over the past year" as well as "the world's complete inability or lack of political will to put a stop to it".