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Tunisian Minister of Environment Arrested Over Italian Waste Scandal

A view of a container being carried by a crane above a freight ship at the port of Sousse, where containers of household waste from Italy are blocked. (AFP)
A view of a container being carried by a crane above a freight ship at the port of Sousse, where containers of household waste from Italy are blocked. (AFP)
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Tunisian Minister of Environment Arrested Over Italian Waste Scandal

A view of a container being carried by a crane above a freight ship at the port of Sousse, where containers of household waste from Italy are blocked. (AFP)
A view of a container being carried by a crane above a freight ship at the port of Sousse, where containers of household waste from Italy are blocked. (AFP)

Tunisian Environment Minister Mustapha Aroui has been sacked and arrested on Sunday over the shipment of hundreds of containers of household waste from Italy to Tunisia, according to spokesperson for the Sousse Court of First Instance Jabir al-Gunaymi.

Justice took over with the arrest of 21 people, including a Customs official, two directors at the National Agency for Environmental Protection (ANPE), four employees from the National Agency for Waste Management (ANGED), and the owner of a private laboratory.

During an accountability session before the parliament, Aroui stated that Tunisia is working on returning the containers to Italy -- he continued that the Italian authority was informed of illegal trade activities.

Head of the Tunisian Administrative Reform and Anti-Corruption Commission Bedreddin al-Kamudi said that several officials from the Customs and the Ministry of the Environment were arrested.

Kamudi added that arrests will continue when the judicial research covers other officials related to this matter.

The shipment was seized by the Tunisian Customs after protests held by civil organizations and accusations of receiving hazardous waste from Italy.

The Customs accused the Ministry of Local Affairs and the Environment of standing behind the waste shipment and insisted that the Ministry granted permission for this.

A report was submitted on Dec. 14 to the Tunisian Administrative Reform and Anti-Corruption Commission, revealing several disorders that need to be referred to the judiciary. Further, the report presented recommendations to avoid similar scenarios in the future.

Notably, the Tunisian authority launched an investigation into corruption-related issues, namely “misconduct”, in which Tunisian former Prime Minister Elyes Fakhfakh, Industry Minister Youssef bin Saleh, and MP Jalal al-Zayati were involved.

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Israeli Security Minister Enters Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound ‘In Prayer’ for Gaza Hostages

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visits the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, also known to Jews as the Temple Mount, during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, in Jerusalem's Old City, December 26, 2024. (Itamar Ben-Gvir's spokesperson/Handout via Reuters)
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visits the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, also known to Jews as the Temple Mount, during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, in Jerusalem's Old City, December 26, 2024. (Itamar Ben-Gvir's spokesperson/Handout via Reuters)
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Israeli Security Minister Enters Al-Aqsa Mosque Compound ‘In Prayer’ for Gaza Hostages

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visits the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, also known to Jews as the Temple Mount, during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, in Jerusalem's Old City, December 26, 2024. (Itamar Ben-Gvir's spokesperson/Handout via Reuters)
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir visits the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, also known to Jews as the Temple Mount, during the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah, in Jerusalem's Old City, December 26, 2024. (Itamar Ben-Gvir's spokesperson/Handout via Reuters)

Israel's ultranationalist security minister ascended to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem on Thursday for what he said was a "prayer" for hostages in Gaza, freshly challenging rules over one of the most sensitive sites in the Middle East.

Israel's official position accepts decades-old rules restricting non-Muslim prayer at the compound, Islam's third holiest site and known as Temple Mount to Jews, who revere it as the site of two ancient temples.

Under a delicate decades-old "status quo" arrangement with Muslim authorities, the Al-Aqsa compound is administered by a Jordanian religious foundation and, under rules dating back decades, Jews can visit but may not pray there.

In a post on X, hardline Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said: "I ascended today to our holy place, in prayer for the welfare of our soldiers, to swiftly return all the hostages and total victory with God's help."

The post included a picture of Ben-Gvir walking in the compound, situated on an elevated plaza in Jerusalem's walled Old City, but no images or video of him praying.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office immediately released a statement restating the official Israeli position.

Palestinian group Hamas took about 250 hostages in its Oct. 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel in which 1,200 people were killed, according to Israeli tallies. In the ensuing war in Gaza, Israeli forces have killed over 45,300 Palestinians, according to health officials in the Hamas-run enclave.

Suggestions from Israeli ultranationalists that Israel would alter rules about religious observance at the Al-Aqsa compound have sparked violence with Palestinians in the past.

In August, Ben-Gvir repeated a call for Jews to be allowed to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, drawing sharp criticism, and he has visited the mosque compound in the past.

Ben-Gvir, head of one of two religious-nationalist parties in Netanyahu's coalition, has a long record of making inflammatory statements appreciated by his own supporters, but conflicting with the government's official line.

Israeli police in the past have prevented ministers from ascending to the compound on the grounds that it endangers national security. Ben-Gvir's ministerial file gives him oversight over Israel's national police force.