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In Sign of Escalation, Turkey Resumes Weapons Shipments to Libya

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) with head of Libya’s Government of National Accord, Fayez al-Sarraj, in Istanbul (AP)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) with head of Libya’s Government of National Accord, Fayez al-Sarraj, in Istanbul (AP)
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In Sign of Escalation, Turkey Resumes Weapons Shipments to Libya

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) with head of Libya’s Government of National Accord, Fayez al-Sarraj, in Istanbul (AP)
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (R) with head of Libya’s Government of National Accord, Fayez al-Sarraj, in Istanbul (AP)

Turkey continues to send military cargo planes loaded with weapons to Libya, less than 24 hours after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met the head of the Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA), Fayez al-Sarraj, in Istanbul.

Itamilradar website, which specializes in monitoring military aircraft, reported that Turkish flights to Libya are ongoing, noting that on Monday morning, a Turkish Air Force Airbus A.400M “Atlas” landed in Misrata from Istanbul. It returned to Turkey after unloading its cargo.

Meanwhile, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that a new batch of about 450 Turkish-backed mercenaries have returned from Libya to Syria, after completing their contracts. Ankara had dispatched them to the North African country to fight alongside the GNA against Libyan National Army (LNA), commanded by Khalifa Haftar.

The mercenaries were transported from Tripoli’s Mitiga airport to Istanbul, and they will be sent to areas under the control of Turkish-backed factions in Syria’s Aleppo countryside.

Turkey has sent 17,420 Syrian mercenaries to Libya, including 350 under the age of 18. Some 2,500 are Tunisian members of terrorist groups, including ISIS and al-Qaeda. Some 6,700 of the mercenaries have since returned to Syria after their contracts ended and they received their financial dues. Turkey, however, is still bringing in more mercenaries to its training camps before sending them to Libya.

During his talks with Sarraj, Erdogan stressed that Turkey’s priority is to ensure stability in Libya by protecting its political unity and territorial integrity.

In a statement from the Turkish presidency said Erdogan called on the international community to assume a "principled stance" in this regard.

It described the Istanbul meeting as fruitful, saying the two parties agreement to develop bilateral relations in order to achieve peace, security and prosperity for the Libyan people.

The Turkish president renewed his support to Libya, stressing that achieving peace and calm in Libya will benefit the whole region, especially neighboring countries and Europe.

The meeting also addressed the steps to protect the rights of Turkey and Libya in the Eastern Mediterranean and terms to strengthen the cooperation under the deal signed between the two countries, according to the statement.

For his part, Sarraj expressed his appreciation for Turkey's support to the GNA, and efforts to ensure the success of the political settlement that will allow the Libyans to return to the constitutional course and hold legislative and presidential elections.

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Arab World

Lebanon’s Crisis-Battered Healthcare System Now Prepares for a Wider War with Israel, Minister Says

Lebanese caretaker Health Minister Firass Abiad, attends an interview with Reuters in Beirut, Lebanon August 7, 2024. (Reuters)
Lebanese caretaker Health Minister Firass Abiad, attends an interview with Reuters in Beirut, Lebanon August 7, 2024. (Reuters)
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Lebanon’s Crisis-Battered Healthcare System Now Prepares for a Wider War with Israel, Minister Says

Lebanese caretaker Health Minister Firass Abiad, attends an interview with Reuters in Beirut, Lebanon August 7, 2024. (Reuters)
Lebanese caretaker Health Minister Firass Abiad, attends an interview with Reuters in Beirut, Lebanon August 7, 2024. (Reuters)

Lebanon’s crisis-battered healthcare system is now preparing for the possibility of a devastating wider conflict with Israel, the country’s health minister told The Associated Press in an interview Monday.

Israel's military and Lebanon’s Hezbollah armed group have traded strikes since the current war in Gaza began, but tensions have escalated since an Israeli strike in a Beirut suburb killed a top Hezbollah commander last month. Hezbollah has vowed to retaliate.

Lebanon’s caretaker government, amid diplomatic maneuvering for de-escalation, is trying to prepare for the worst with a tattered budget, a deeply divided parliament and no president.

"The Lebanese health system had to adjust to multiple crises," caretaker Health Minister Firass Abiad said. Healthcare facilities cut costs by keeping inventory at a minimum, leaving little backup for emergencies, he said. Now inventory has been built up to four months' worth of critical supplies.

"We hope that all the efforts we are doing for preparing for this emergency go to waste" and a wider war is averted, Abiad said. "The best thing that we want is for all of this to turn out to be unnecessary."

Inside Gaza, the health system has been decimated. Abiad said Lebanese health authorities take the possibility of hospitals being targeted in a wider conflict "very seriously."

Already, he said, almost two dozen paramedics and healthcare workers in southern Lebanon have been killed in Israeli strikes. They include paramedics from medical groups affiliated with Hezbollah and allied groups that have filled the gaps in areas with limited state services.

Israeli strikes have hit deeper into Lebanon in recent weeks, and sonic booms from military jets rattle Beirut. Much of the border region is in rubble.

The Mediterranean country’s health sector was once renowned as one of the best in the region. But Lebanon has faced compounding crises since 2019, including a fiscal one that followed decades of corruption and mismanagement. Other challenges include the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Beirut Port explosion that damaged or destroyed key healthcare infrastructure and dwindling international aid to help Lebanon host more than 1 million Syrian refugees.

Lebanese hospitals in 2021 were at breaking point, barely able to keep the lights on and short on medicines.

Abiad said the health sector has shown resilience before, and he hopes it will again.

"During the (port) blast, the system was able to absorb an excess of 6,000 casualties in a matter of 12 hours," he said. "There is, I would say, a determination within our healthcare system to provide the needed care to all the people who require it."

But resilience might not be enough for the troubled country and its 6 million people. The financial crisis has left government agencies beholden to humanitarian organizations for cash injections and supplies.

Last week, the health ministry received 32 tons of emergency medical aid from the World Health Organization. But UN agencies and other humanitarian groups have had to reallocate funds from existing work to provide aid to about 100,00 people who have fled southern Lebanon since the current war in Gaza began.

Abiad said some issues are out of the ministry’s control, including securing fuel for electricity and petrol for ambulances, as well as supporting the almost 800,000 UN-registered Syrian refugees in the country.

Healthcare resources are not sufficient for refugees in particular, Abiad said: "The international community really has to pull its weight and chip in with this particular issue."