Libya’s GNA, LNA to Close Agreement on Sirte Demilitarization

Libyan National Army conduct military drills (Reuters)
Libyan National Army conduct military drills (Reuters)
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Libya’s GNA, LNA to Close Agreement on Sirte Demilitarization

Libyan National Army conduct military drills (Reuters)
Libyan National Army conduct military drills (Reuters)

Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA) and the Libyan National Army (LNA) are inching in towards sealing an agreement on demilitarizing the strategic city of Sirte and transforming it into the capital of the new authority in the North African nation, sources with knowledge of the matter reported.

The sources, speaking under the conditions of anonymity, said that the GNA and LNA have reached a preliminary agreement to demilitarize Sirte and to establish armistice in the city which is located between Tripoli and Benghazi.

An undeclared arrangement finalized between Turkey and Russia kickstarted the withdrawal of fighters on both rival sides in Sirte, it also ushered in the formation of a joint force that includes elements from the LNA and GNA, the same sources revealed.

Tribes from Libya’s three main regions will participate in the joint forces.

According to the arrangement, LNA forces, who currently control Sirte, will redeploy forces to the strategic city’s outer skirts in exchange for the GNA also doing the same with regard to repositioning their forces.

A top Libyan official, speaking under the conditions of anonymity, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the demilitarization of Sirte is a prelude for a major deal that will end the crisis and suffering in Libya.

The official pointed out that arrangements being completed in regional and international negotiations will put the military option for ending the conflict in Libya on ice.

Other unofficial sources spoke about intentions to abolish the military and security agreement signed between Turkey and the GNA last year. US and UN officials are discussing with the GNA’s interior ministry the merger of its loyalist militias with state security apparatuses.

In other news, LNA forces announced on Wednesday killing the leader of ISIS in North Africa during a raid in the southern desert city of Sebha earlier this month.

Libyan National Army (LNA) spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari said Abu Moaz al-Iraqi was among nine extremists killed during the raid but was only identified afterward.



Gaza Civil Defense Says Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 29

A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
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Gaza Civil Defense Says Israeli Strikes Kill at Least 29

A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
A Palestinian girl, wounded in an Israeli strike that killed people, who gathered to collect water from a distribution point, according to medics, receives treatment at Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip July 13, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer

Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli airstrikes on Sunday killed at least 29 Palestinians, including six children near a water distribution point.

The attacks came with apparent deadlock in a week of indirect talks in Qatar between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas for a ceasefire in the territory.

Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that Gaza City was hit by several strikes overnight and in the early morning, killing eight, "including women and children" and wounding others.

An Israeli airstrike hit a family home near the Nuseirat refugee camp, south of Gaza City, resulting in "10 martyrs and several injured", Bassal said.

In central Gaza, six children were among eight people killed when a drone "hit a potable water distribution point in an area for displaced people" in the Nuseirat camp, he added.

Several other people were wounded, he said.

In the territory's south, three people were killed when Israeli jets hit a tent sheltering displaced Palestinians in the coastal Al-Mawasi area, according to the civil defense spokesman.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has recently intensified its operations across Gaza, more than 21 months into the war triggered by Hamas's October 2023 attack.

On Saturday, the military said fighter jets had hit more than 35 "Hamas terror targets" around Beit Hanun in northern Gaza.

The vast majority of Gaza's population of more than two million people have been displaced at least once during the war, which has created dire humanitarian conditions in the territory.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify tolls and details provided by the civil defense agency and other parties.