Clashes Erupt near Tripoli Soon after New Libya Govt Approved

Libya's Prime Minister-designate Abdulhamid Dbeibeh speaks during a press conference in the capital, Tripoli, on Feb. 25, 2021.  (Getty Images)
Libya's Prime Minister-designate Abdulhamid Dbeibeh speaks during a press conference in the capital, Tripoli, on Feb. 25, 2021. (Getty Images)
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Clashes Erupt near Tripoli Soon after New Libya Govt Approved

Libya's Prime Minister-designate Abdulhamid Dbeibeh speaks during a press conference in the capital, Tripoli, on Feb. 25, 2021.  (Getty Images)
Libya's Prime Minister-designate Abdulhamid Dbeibeh speaks during a press conference in the capital, Tripoli, on Feb. 25, 2021. (Getty Images)

Clashes between rival militias broke out again in the Libyan capital Tripoli soon after parliament granted the interim government its vote of confidence.

The fighting took place between militias loyal to the outgoing Government of National Accord (GNA).

Local media and witnesses reported that Turkish drones were flying at a low altitude over the city of Tajoura east of Tripoli. The aircraft had taken off from the capital’s Mitiga airport on a surveillance mission.

Tanks and military vehicles were also spotted in Tripoli amid the spike in tensions caused by the militia clashes.

In Tajoura, rival militias amassed their members and shut main roads after a dispute erupted between the Tajoura Lions, led by Ali Dreder, and Dhaman Brigade, led by Nader al-Azrak. The dispute broke out when the Dhaman Brigade tried to abduct a member of the rival militia.

GNA Defense Minister Salah al-Namroush had in October ordered the dismantling of both militias, but to no avail.

Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibeh and new Presidential Council head Mohammed al-Menfi did not issue a statement over the Tripoli unrest.

Dbeibeh tweeted, however, that his government will take “very strong” decisions that will favor the people and nation.

He is expected to be officially sworn into office in the eastern city of Benghazi.



Pope Calls Gaza Airstrikes 'Cruelty'

A Palestinian mourns as he carries the shrouded body of a child, killed in an Israeli strike the previous night, during a funeral in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip on December 21, 2024, as the war between Israel and Hamas militants continues. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
A Palestinian mourns as he carries the shrouded body of a child, killed in an Israeli strike the previous night, during a funeral in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip on December 21, 2024, as the war between Israel and Hamas militants continues. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
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Pope Calls Gaza Airstrikes 'Cruelty'

A Palestinian mourns as he carries the shrouded body of a child, killed in an Israeli strike the previous night, during a funeral in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip on December 21, 2024, as the war between Israel and Hamas militants continues. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
A Palestinian mourns as he carries the shrouded body of a child, killed in an Israeli strike the previous night, during a funeral in Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip on December 21, 2024, as the war between Israel and Hamas militants continues. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

Pope Francis on Saturday again condemned Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, a day after an Israeli government minister publicly denounced the pontiff for suggesting the global community should study whether the military offensive there constitutes a genocide of the Palestinian people.

Francis opened his annual Christmas address to the Catholic cardinals who lead the Vatican's various departments with what appeared to be a reference to Israeli airstrikes on Friday that killed at least 25 Palestinians in Gaza, Reuters reported.

"Yesterday, children were bombed," said the pope. "This is cruelty. This is not war. I wanted to say this because it touches the heart."

The pope, as leader of the 1.4-billion-member Roman Catholic Church, is usually careful about taking sides in conflicts, but he has recently been more outspoken about Israel's military campaign against Palestinian militant group Hamas.

In book excerpts published last month, the pontiff said some international experts said that "what is happening in Gaza has the characteristics of a genocide.”

Israeli Minister of Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli sharply criticized those comments in an unusual open letter published by Italian newspaper Il Foglio on Friday. Chikli said the pope's remarks amounted to a "trivialization" of the term genocide.

Francis also said on Saturday that the Catholic bishop of Jerusalem, known as a patriarch, had tried to enter the Gaza Strip on Friday to visit Catholics there, but was denied entry.

The patriarch's office told Reuters it was not able to comment on the pope's remarks about the patriarch being denied entry.