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Warnings Rise of Qatari, Turkish Attempts to Sabotage Libya Ceasefire

A member of security forces loyal to Libya's GNA holds a weapon during a security deployment in Tarhuna, Libya on June 11, 2020. (Reuters)
A member of security forces loyal to Libya's GNA holds a weapon during a security deployment in Tarhuna, Libya on June 11, 2020. (Reuters)
    Cairo, London – Khaled Mahmoud and Asharq Al-Awsat
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Warnings Rise of Qatari, Turkish Attempts to Sabotage Libya Ceasefire

A member of security forces loyal to Libya's GNA holds a weapon during a security deployment in Tarhuna, Libya on June 11, 2020. (Reuters)
A member of security forces loyal to Libya's GNA holds a weapon during a security deployment in Tarhuna, Libya on June 11, 2020. (Reuters)

The Libyan National Army (LNA), commanded by Khalifa Haftar, announced on Monday its rejection of a security deal the Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) had suddenly struck with Qatar.

In a statement, LNA spokesman Ahmed al-Mismari slammed Qatar, “one of the world’s greatest sponsors of terrorism, for using its agents in Libya today to sign a so-called security agreement.”

He slammed the deal as a violation of the Geneva dialogue and a “suspicious” attempt to undermine the ceasefire agreement that was brokered by the United Nations last week.

The ceasefire, he added, is aimed at ending the escalation on the ground and “destructive” foreign meddling in Libyan affairs.

The LNA statement underlined concerns over Qatar and Turkey – the GNA’s main backers - seeking to obstruct the ceasefire.

The GNA Interior Ministry announced on Monday the signing of a security agreement with Qatar on combating terrorism, drug smuggling and money laundering.

The deal was unveiled during a surprise visit by Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha and Foreign Minister Mohammed Siala to Doha where they met with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

Meanwhile, the High Council of State, which is affiliated with the GNA, announced its rejection of the ceasefire, saying it was “struck between a legitimate authority and a rebel force,” a reference to the LNA.

“The ceasefire is in no way whatsoever a recognition of the legitimacy of the aggressor,” it continued.

GNA Defense Minister Salah al-Namroush, meanwhile, stressed the need to bolster joint cooperation with the “Turkish ally” and the continuation of the joint training programs at his ministry.

He said on Sunday that the ceasefire does not address and “has nothing to do” with the GNA’s military cooperation with Ankara.

The security and military training should be the focus, now more than ever, especially if the ceasefire is respected and peace is restored in the country, he remarked.

He added that the Defense Ministry was committed to the truce, accusing Haftar of continuing to amass his forces, fortify his positions and bring in mercenaries.

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Arab World

At Least 40 Dead in Gaza, Medics Say, as Israeli Tanks Pull back from Camp

Palestinian men sit together inside a destroyed building after Israeli forces withdrew from a part of Nuseirat, following a ground operation amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, November 29, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinian men sit together inside a destroyed building after Israeli forces withdrew from a part of Nuseirat, following a ground operation amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, November 29, 2024. (Reuters)
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At Least 40 Dead in Gaza, Medics Say, as Israeli Tanks Pull back from Camp

Palestinian men sit together inside a destroyed building after Israeli forces withdrew from a part of Nuseirat, following a ground operation amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, November 29, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinian men sit together inside a destroyed building after Israeli forces withdrew from a part of Nuseirat, following a ground operation amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, November 29, 2024. (Reuters)

Israeli military strikes killed at least 40 Palestinians overnight and on Friday in the Gaza Strip, many of them in the Nuseirat refugee camp at the center of the enclave, medics said, after Israeli tanks pulled back from parts of the camp.

Medics said they had recovered 19 bodies of Palestinians killed in northern areas of Nuseirat, one of the enclave's eight long-standing refugee camps.

Later on Friday, an Israeli air strike killed at least 10 Palestinians in a house in Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza Strip, medics said.

Others were killed in the northern and southern areas of the Gaza Strip, medics added. There was no fresh statement by the Israeli military on Friday, but on Thursday it said its forces were continuing to "strike terror targets as part of the operational activity in the Gaza Strip".

Israeli tanks had entered northern and western areas of Nuseirat on Thursday. They withdrew from northern areas on Friday but remained active in western parts of the camp. The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said teams were unable to respond to distress calls from residents trapped in their homes.

Dozens of Palestinians returned on Friday to areas where the army had retreated to check on damage to their homes.

Medics and relatives covered up dead bodies, including of women, that lay on the road with blankets or white shrouds and carried them away on stretchers.

"Forgive me, my wife, forgive me, my Ibtissam, forgive me, my dear," one grief-stricken man moaned through tears beside her corpse, laid out on a stretcher on the ground.

Medics said an Israeli drone on Friday had killed Ahmed Al-Kahlout, head of the Intensive Care Unit at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya, on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip, where the army has been operating since early October.

Contacted by Reuters, the Israeli military said it was unaware of a strike occurring in this location or timeframe.

Kamal Adwan Hospital is one of three medical facilities on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip that barely function now due to shortages of medical, fuel, and food supplies. Most of its medical staff have been detained or expelled by the Israeli army, health officials say.

DISPLACEMENTS

The Israeli army said forces operating in Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoun and Jabalia since Oct. 5 aimed to prevent Hamas fighters from regrouping and waging attacks from those areas. Residents said the army was depopulating the towns of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun as well as the Jabalia refugee camp.

Meanwhile, Israeli authorities released around 30 Palestinians whom it had detained in the past few months during its Gaza offensive. Those released arrived at a hospital in southern Gaza for medical checkups, medics said.

Freed Palestinians, detained during the war, have complained of ill-treatment and torture in Israeli detention after they were released. Israel denies torture.

Months of efforts to negotiate a ceasefire in Gaza have yielded scant progress, and negotiations are now on hold

A ceasefire in the parallel conflict between Israel and Lebanon's Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, took effect before dawn on Wednesday, bringing a halt to hostilities that had escalated sharply in recent months and had overshadowed the Gaza conflict.

Announcing the Lebanon accord on Tuesday, US President Joe Biden said he would now renew his push for a ceasefire agreement in Gaza and he urged Israel and Hamas to seize the moment.

Israel's campaign in Gaza has killed nearly 44,300 people and displaced nearly all the enclave's population at least once, Gaza officials say. Vast swathes of the territory are in ruins.

The Hamas-led fighters who attacked southern Israeli communities 13 months ago, triggering the war, killed some 1,200 people and captured more than 250 hostages, Israel has said.