Libya’s GNA Says Ready to Counter ‘Any Attack’

Commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA) Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar and a delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
Commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA) Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar and a delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
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Libya’s GNA Says Ready to Counter ‘Any Attack’

Commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA) Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar and a delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
Commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA) Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar and a delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

The forces of Fayez al-Sarraj’s Government of National Accord (GNA) said they were “ready” to counter any attack on Sirte and Jufra.

Meanwhile, Turkish troops appeared in photos published by local Libyan media while searching for mines or ordnance left behind from the war in the vicinity of the GNA-run al-Watiya airbase in southwestern Libya.

Websites specialized in monitoring air traffic and military flights have noticed an increasing activity for Turkish cargo planes landing at the base.

Italy’s Itamilradar website tracked a Turkish warplane landing at the base.

At least 36 such flights have been monitored in the past two weeks.

Separately, the Commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA), Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, received on Wednesday a delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The meeting was held at Haftar’s headquarters in al-Rajma, in the eastern city of Benghazi, his office announced, noting that the two parties discussed means to bolster bilateral cooperation.

It said this comes as part of a series of meetings held in line with international scientific support and cooperation with the LNA forces.

In other news, Spokesman for the GNA’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Mohammed al-Qiblawi announced on Tuesday that Libya had refused to take over the chairmanship of the Arab League’s current session.

Libya will be looking forward to exercising its right under better circumstances and reserves its right to the presidency under the procedural rules of the Arab League, he said.



Israel Presses Jenin Raid

Israeli army vehicles block a road on the second day of an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 22 January 2025. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
Israeli army vehicles block a road on the second day of an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 22 January 2025. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
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Israel Presses Jenin Raid

Israeli army vehicles block a road on the second day of an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 22 January 2025. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH
Israeli army vehicles block a road on the second day of an Israeli military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin, 22 January 2025. EPA/ALAA BADARNEH

A Palestinian official reported shooting and explosions in the flashpoint West Bank town of Jenin on Wednesday as Israeli forces pressed a raid that the military described as a "counterterrorism" operation.

"The situation is very difficult," Kamal Abu al-Rub, the governor of Jenin, told AFP.

"The occupation army has bulldozed all the roads leading to the Jenin camp, and leading to the Jenin Governmental Hospital... There is shooting and explosions," he added.

On Tuesday, Israeli forces launched an operation in Jenin which Palestinian officials said killed 10 people, just days after a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect in the Gaza Strip.

According to Abu al-Rub, Israeli forces detained around 20 people from villages near Jenin, a bastion of Palestinian militancy.

The Israeli military said it had launched a "counterterrorism operation" in the area, and had "hit over 10 terrorists.”

"Additionally, aerial strikes on terror infrastructure sites were conducted and numerous explosives planted on the routes by the terrorists were dismantled," it said in a statement on Wednesday.

"The Israeli forces are continuing the operation."

Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed to continue the assault.

"It is a decisive operation aimed at eliminating terrorists in the camp," Katz said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that the military would not allow a "terror front" to be established there.

On Tuesday, the Israeli military and the Shin Bet security agency announced that, in coordination with the Border Police, they had launched an operation named "Iron Wall" in the area.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the raid aimed to "eradicate terrorism" in Jenin.

He linked the operation to a broader strategy of countering Iran "wherever it sends its arms — in Gaza, Lebanon, Syria, Yemen," and the West Bank.

The Palestinian Health Ministry says more than 800 people have been killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank since October 2023.