Tunisia: Calls For Govt Resignation after Attack on MPs

Side of the demonstrations in the Tunisian capital on Tuesday, March 9, 2021 (EPA)
Side of the demonstrations in the Tunisian capital on Tuesday, March 9, 2021 (EPA)
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Tunisia: Calls For Govt Resignation after Attack on MPs

Side of the demonstrations in the Tunisian capital on Tuesday, March 9, 2021 (EPA)
Side of the demonstrations in the Tunisian capital on Tuesday, March 9, 2021 (EPA)

Tunisian security forces resorted to lethal force on Wednesday to disperse a sit-in staged by leaders of the opposition Free Destourian Party outside the headquarters of the International Union of Muslim Scholars, sparking criticism over the government’s mishandling of the situation.

Opposition parties called on the government to resign, blaming it for assaulting the protesting MPs and wounding some of them.

Abir Moussa, head of the party, has organized the sit-in with a number of supporters in an attempt to terminate the Union’s activities.

For months now, Moussa has been accusing Union officials of supporting terrorism and organizing ideological courses that promote violence and extremism and serve radical religious currents.

Tension and chaos prevailed between protesters and some of the Union members, who refused to leave the headquarters and urged authorities and the prime minister to intervene.

Moussa published a video footage on the party’s official page showing the security forces’ use of violence and tear gas to disperse the protesters.

Commenting on the incident, Prime Minister Hichem Mechichi said the Public Prosecution is the only body authorized to enforce the law in light of the curfew and the state of emergency in Tunisia.

Any accusation against the government is this regard is “baseless,” Mechichi stressed, noting that all actions taken are within the law, which is applied equally on all parties.

Meanwhile, Coordinator of the opposition Soumoud Coalition Houssem Hammi accused the government of supporting what he described as "a global terrorist organization."

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that the security forces’ use of violence comes in line with a “systematic campaign carried out by the current government to end the opposition movements and protect the ruling parties.”

By pursuing a policy of double standards, the government is failing to perform its primary role of protecting rights and freedoms after it proved its failure in managing the state institutions, he stressed.

In this context, Hammi demanded the government’s resignation, saying that it has become a hurdle in the path of democratic transition.



Israeli Soldiers Kill Palestinian Man in West Bank

A picture taken in the village of Turmus Ayya near Ramallah city shows the nearby Israeli Shilo settlement in the background, in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2024. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
A picture taken in the village of Turmus Ayya near Ramallah city shows the nearby Israeli Shilo settlement in the background, in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2024. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
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Israeli Soldiers Kill Palestinian Man in West Bank

A picture taken in the village of Turmus Ayya near Ramallah city shows the nearby Israeli Shilo settlement in the background, in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2024. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)
A picture taken in the village of Turmus Ayya near Ramallah city shows the nearby Israeli Shilo settlement in the background, in the occupied West Bank on February 18, 2024. (Photo by Jaafar ASHTIYEH / AFP)

Palestinian authorities said Israeli troops killed a 55-year-old man in the north of the occupied West Bank on Thursday -- an incident the Israeli army said involved a stabbing attack.

The Ramallah-based health ministry said the body in charge of coordination with Israel informed it that soldiers "shot and killed" the man in Rummanah, near Jenin, in the morning.

The Israeli military said separately that troops deployed in the village "neutralised" a man after he stabbed and "moderately injured" a soldier, AFP reported.

The army generally uses the term "neutralised" after killing someone.

Violence in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has soared since the Hamas attack of October 2023.

A 12-year-old Palestinian boy died Thursday of wounds suffered during an army raid near the West Bank town of Nablus last week, the health ministry said.

Since October 7, 2023, Israeli troops or settlers have killed at least 951 Palestinians, including many militants, the ministry said.

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Over the same period, at least 35 Israelis have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations, according to Israeli figures.