Williams Urges Libyans Not to Allow Anyone to Jeopardize Opportunity to Restore Peace

UN Photo/Violaine Martin. United Nations acting Libya envoy Stephanie Williams hosts the fourth round of the 5+5 Libyan Joint Military Commission, Palais des Nations. 19 October 2020.
UN Photo/Violaine Martin. United Nations acting Libya envoy Stephanie Williams hosts the fourth round of the 5+5 Libyan Joint Military Commission, Palais des Nations. 19 October 2020.
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Williams Urges Libyans Not to Allow Anyone to Jeopardize Opportunity to Restore Peace

UN Photo/Violaine Martin. United Nations acting Libya envoy Stephanie Williams hosts the fourth round of the 5+5 Libyan Joint Military Commission, Palais des Nations. 19 October 2020.
UN Photo/Violaine Martin. United Nations acting Libya envoy Stephanie Williams hosts the fourth round of the 5+5 Libyan Joint Military Commission, Palais des Nations. 19 October 2020.

United Nations acting Libya envoy Stephanie Williams called on Libyans to prevent obstructionists from jeopardizing the current "rare opportunity" to restore peace.

In an interview with the UN News, Williams outlined the recent developments, including the nationwide ceasefire agreed on last month.

“After many years of oppression, division, chaos, misery, and conflict, Libyans are coming together for the sake of Libya, for the sake of their children and grandchildren, to chart a Libyan vision for the way forward that has the opportunity to preserve the country’s unity and reassert its sovereignty,” she said.

Williams also said that Libya is now back to producing oil, stressing the impact of this development on the country’s economy. She also highlighted the “foreign intervention” in the country, and the importance of adhering to the arms’ embargo.

Meanwhile, Minister of Defense of the Government of National Accord (GNA) Salah El-Din Al-Namroush said cooperation with Turkey helps thwart any attempt to undermine the country’s sovereignty, security, and safety.

This came Saturday during a ceremony for Libyan soldiers who completed an eight-week training by the Turkish Armed Forces.

Also, Minister of the Interior of GNA Fathi Bashagha discussed with Minister of French Armed Forces Florence Parly methods to increase security cooperation and joint action.

Bashagha said the capabilities of the Ministry will be boosted after signing a partnership with France's Airbus Helicopters, adding that the Ministry would soon receive ten state-of-the-art helicopters.

The helicopters would be used in combating organized crime, terrorism, and in search and rescue operations, as well as in monitoring the coast and borders and human trafficking routes, he added.



Five Killed in Israeli Strike on Southern Lebanon, Health Ministry Says

Smoke rises above south Lebanon following an Israeli strike amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Israel's border with Lebanon in northern Israel, May 5, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke rises above south Lebanon following an Israeli strike amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Israel's border with Lebanon in northern Israel, May 5, 2024. (Reuters)
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Five Killed in Israeli Strike on Southern Lebanon, Health Ministry Says

Smoke rises above south Lebanon following an Israeli strike amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Israel's border with Lebanon in northern Israel, May 5, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke rises above south Lebanon following an Israeli strike amid cross-border hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Israel's border with Lebanon in northern Israel, May 5, 2024. (Reuters)

Five people were killed and four wounded in an Israeli strike on the town of Tayr Debba in southern Lebanon on Friday, the Lebanese health ministry said.

The Israeli military said it had conducted an airstrike on vehicles loaded with weapons used by Lebanon's Hezbollah movement in southern Lebanon.

The army said it "continues to be committed to the ceasefire understandings between Israel and Lebanon, is deployed in the southern Lebanon area, and will work to eliminate any threat to the State of Israel and its citizens".

Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah agreed to a US-brokered 60-day ceasefire that calls for a phased Israeli military pullout after more than a year of war, in keeping with a 2006 UN Security Council resolution that ended their last major conflict.

Israel launched an offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon last September, following nearly a year of cross-border hostilities ignited by the Gaza war, pounding wide areas of Lebanon from the air and sending troops into the south.

The conflict began when Hezbollah opened fire in solidarity with its Palestinian ally Hamas after Hamas launched the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel.