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Security Council Adopts Change in Structure for UN Libya Mission

FILE PHOTO - The United Nations Security Council meets in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, US, January 26, 2019. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
FILE PHOTO - The United Nations Security Council meets in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, US, January 26, 2019. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
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Security Council Adopts Change in Structure for UN Libya Mission

FILE PHOTO - The United Nations Security Council meets in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, US, January 26, 2019. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri
FILE PHOTO - The United Nations Security Council meets in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, US, January 26, 2019. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

The UN Security Council adopted a resolution Tuesday under pressure from the United States endorsing a change in structure for its mission in Libya, which will in the future have a special envoy and a "coordinator."

Thirteen of the 15 Council members voted for the resolution, with Russia and China abstaining.

The new structure accompanies a one-year renewal for the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL), decided after more than six months of squabbling.

It is now up to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to appoint people for the new roles, AFP reported. The resolution states that "UNSMIL should be led by a Special Envoy of the Secretary-General... with a particular focus on good offices and mediation with Libyan and international actors to end the conflict."

Under the envoy's authority, "an UNSMIL Coordinator shall be in charge of UNSMIL's day-to-day operations and management."

UNSMIL has not had a special envoy since Ghassan Salame stepped down in March for health reasons, and bickering between the United States and its partners on how the role should be defined has stalled naming a successor.

The resolution requests that Guterres define within the next two months "steps required to reach a lasting ceasefire" and to simultaneously provide "proposals" for possible UN "monitoring."

Finally, the text calls for "full compliance" with the arms embargo.

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Trump, Netanyahu Meet Again as Gaps Said to Narrow in Gaza Ceasefire Talks

07 July 2025, US, Washington: US President Donald Trump receives Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speak privately in the Vermeil Room before a dinner at the White House. (Daniel Torok/White House/dpa)
07 July 2025, US, Washington: US President Donald Trump receives Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speak privately in the Vermeil Room before a dinner at the White House. (Daniel Torok/White House/dpa)
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Trump, Netanyahu Meet Again as Gaps Said to Narrow in Gaza Ceasefire Talks

07 July 2025, US, Washington: US President Donald Trump receives Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speak privately in the Vermeil Room before a dinner at the White House. (Daniel Torok/White House/dpa)
07 July 2025, US, Washington: US President Donald Trump receives Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speak privately in the Vermeil Room before a dinner at the White House. (Daniel Torok/White House/dpa)

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday met for a second time in two days with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss Gaza as Trump's Middle East envoy said Israel and Hamas were closing their differences on a ceasefire deal.

Netanyahu arrived at the White House shortly before 5 p.m. EDT for a meeting that was not expected to be open to the press. The two men met for several hours during a dinner at the White House on Monday during the Israeli leader's third US visit since the president began his second term on January 20.

Netanyahu met with Vice President JD Vance and then visited the US Capitol on Tuesday. He told reporters after a meeting with the Republican House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson that while he did not think Israel's campaign in the Palestinian enclave was done, negotiators are "certainly working" on a ceasefire.

"We have still to finish the job in Gaza, release all our hostages, eliminate and destroy Hamas' military and government capabilities," Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu's return to the White House to see Trump on Tuesday pushed back his meeting with US Senate leaders to Wednesday.

Shortly after Netanyahu spoke, Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, said the issues keeping Israel and Hamas from agreeing had dropped to one from four and he hoped to reach a temporary ceasefire agreement this week.

"We are hopeful that by the end of this week, we'll have an agreement that will bring us into a 60-day ceasefire. Ten live hostages will be released. Nine deceased will be released," Witkoff told reporters at a meeting of Trump's Cabinet.

The Gaza war erupted when Hamas attacked southern Israel in October 2023, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures. Some 50 hostages remain in Gaza, with 20 believed to be alive.

Israel's retaliatory war in Gaza has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, according to the enclave's health ministry. Most of Gaza's population has been displaced by the war and nearly half a million people are facing famine within months, according to United Nations estimates.

Trump had strongly supported Netanyahu, even wading into domestic Israeli politics by criticizing prosecutors over a corruption trial against the Israeli leader on bribery, fraud and breach-of-trust charges that Netanyahu denies.

In his remarks to reporters at the US Congress, Netanyahu praised Trump, saying there has never been closer coordination between the US and Israel in his country's history.