Suspects Arrested Over Killing of Wanted Libyan Commander https://english.aawsat.com/home/article/2886076/suspects-arrested-over-killing-wanted-libyan-commander
Suspects Arrested Over Killing of Wanted Libyan Commander
Mahmoud Mustafa Busayf al-Werfalli. (AFP)
Libyan authorities on Saturday announced increased security measures in second city Benghazi and the arrest of two suspects in connection with the killing of Mahmoud al-Werfalli, a member of the Libyan National Army (LNA).
Mahmoud Al-Werfalli, a commander in an elite unit attached to LNA, was shot dead on Wednesday along with his cousin.
The ICC issued a first warrant for Al-Werfalli’s arrest in August 2017, accusing him of having ordered or personally carried out seven separate rounds of executions of 33 people in 2016 and 2017.
In July 2018, the ICC issued a second arrest warrant for Al-Werfalli for his “alleged responsibility for murder as a war crime.”
Col. Ali Madi identified the suspects in Al-Werfalli’s killing as Mohammed Abdeljalil Saad and Hanine Al-Abdaly.
The latter is the daughter of lawyer and rights activist Hanan Al-Barassi, who was gunned down in November in Benghazi in broad daylight.
Military authorities in Benghazi said Al-Abdaly was arrested while “threatening a fellow citizen with a handgun,” according to a video footage of the alleged incident.
Possession of the handgun in itself is considered a crime, they said, AFP reported.
Meanwhile, the head of security in Benghazi, Gen. Abdelbasit Bougheress, said on Saturday that on “instructions” from Haftar, all shops must install surveillance cameras before Tuesday.
Cars with tinted windows will be banned in the city, as well as vehicles without license plates, he added, among other measures.
Majly to Asharq Al-Awsat: Armed Forces Ready for Any Houthi Escalation, to Protect Yemenhttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5292624-majly-asharq-al-awsat-armed-forces-ready-any-houthi-escalation-protect-yemen
Majly to Asharq Al-Awsat: Armed Forces Ready for Any Houthi Escalation, to Protect Yemen
Defense Minister Lieutenant General Tahir Al-Aqili meets forces deployed in Shabwa. (Shabwa press office)
Yemen Armed Forces Spokesman Brig. Gen. Abdu Majly stressed that the forces are ready to handle ay field development or military escalation by the Iran-backed Houthis.
In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, he condemned the “direct Iranian meddling” in Yemen, it was a threat to regional and international security and undermine efforts to reach a political settlement to end the war.
Iran’s operation of a direct Mahan Air flight from Houthi-held Sanaa airport is a “flagrant violation of the Yemeni republic’s sovereignty” and undermining of international laws and United Nations Security Council resolutions, he added.
He also deemed it a “dangerous threat to Yemeni and regional security.”
Majly said the flight carried Iranian “experts” and members of its Revolutionary Guards Corpse (IRGC). They arrived in Yemen to run military operations alongside the Houthis.
This is evidence that Tehran is using the militants as “a tool to implement its expansionist agenda in the region and undermine the sovereignty of the Yemeni state,” he stressed.
Yemen’s Presidential Leadership Council slammed the flight, saying it demonstrates the close relations between the Houthis and Iran.
It underscores the Houthis’ continued use of state institutions in areas under their control to serve the Iranian agenda, it went on to say.
It is an act of “defiance” against Security Council resolutions and international law, it added, saying it tests the international community’s commitment to protecting Yemen’s sovereignty.
Meanwhile, a statement by the Saudi-led Arab coalition said the latest developments not only reflect internal Yemeni conflicts, but they are also tied to regional security.
Coalition spokesman Turki Al-Malki vowed that the coalition will “respond with unprecedented force” to any attack against Saudi Arabia or Yemen.
Majly told Asharq Al-Awsat that Iran’s continued support to the Houthis reveals how it “is using the group to serve its agendas in defiance of the will of the Yemeni people and regional and international efforts to end the war and restore peace.”
Yemen Armed Forces Spokesman Brig. Gen. Abdu Majly. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Through direct Iranian support, the Houthis “are undermining all political initiatives and rejecting peace, starting with Saudi-led efforts in cooperation with brothers and international partners.”
He therefore held the Houthis responsible for the continued deterioration in the humanitarian and economic situation in Yemen.
The armed forces, out of their constitutional and legal responsibilities, will maintain their protection of the Yemeni republic, defend its skies and territories, and repel any threat to its legitimate institutions, he vowed.
On the ground, Majalli said the Houthis were amassing forces on several fronts, especially Hodeidah and the west coast.
On Saturday, they struck a position held by government forces in Hays, leaving fatalities and injuries in their ranks.
Majly accused the Houthis of seeking to threaten navigation in the Red Sea and other marine waterways, warning that such practices harm the Yemeni state and the interests of the Yemeni people.
The armed forces are on high combat readiness and their morale is firm, he stressed.
They are determined to liberate territories, reclaim state institutions and consolidate the legitimate authority, he said.
Commenting on the recent “hostile” Houthi statements against Saudi Arabia, Majly said they were aimed at “diverting attention away from the violations the militants are committing against the Yemeni people and their responsibility in deepening the humanitarian and economic crisis in the country.”
Israeli Strike Kills Two People in Gaza, Medics Sayhttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5292457-israeli-strike-kills-two-people-gaza-medics-say
Palestinians make their way past the rubble of residential buildings destroyed during the Israeli offensive as displaced people shelter in tents, in Gaza City, July 4, 2026. (Reuters)
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Israeli Strike Kills Two People in Gaza, Medics Say
Palestinians make their way past the rubble of residential buildings destroyed during the Israeli offensive as displaced people shelter in tents, in Gaza City, July 4, 2026. (Reuters)
An Israeli airstrike killed at least two Palestinians in Gaza City on Sunday, health officials said.
Medics said the two people were killed when an airstrike hit a group of people at the Omar Al-Mokhtar road in the heart of the city, north of the enclave. Several others were wounded, they added.
The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the incident.
Israel has repeatedly carried out strikes on Gaza since a US-mediated ceasefire with Hamas was reached in October last year, saying that it is targeting fighters threatening its soldiers in Gaza or those who took part in that 2023 attack.
Hamas has accused Israel of violating the ceasefire, while Nikolay Mladenov, the US President Donald Trump-appointed Board of Peace envoy to Gaza, has said both parties have violated the agreement.
Israel and Hamas are deadlocked in indirect talks over implementing the second phase of the ceasefire deal, which includes the group's disarmament and Israeli army withdrawals.
Since the ceasefire took effect eight months ago, over 1,060 Palestinians, many of them civilians, and four Israeli soldiers have been killed in Gaza, according to figures from each side. Hamas does not disclose its fatality figures.
In South Lebanon, Israel Army Chief Vows to Act ‘Decisively’ Against Hezbollahhttps://english.aawsat.com/arab-world/5292451-south-lebanon-israel-army-chief-vows-act-%E2%80%98decisively%E2%80%99-against-hezbollah
The Crusader-period Beaufort Castle (rear) in southern Lebanon at sunset, as seen from the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, 29 June 2026, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. (EPA)
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In South Lebanon, Israel Army Chief Vows to Act ‘Decisively’ Against Hezbollah
The Crusader-period Beaufort Castle (rear) in southern Lebanon at sunset, as seen from the Upper Galilee in northern Israel, 29 June 2026, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon. (EPA)
Israel's military chief visited forces deployed around Beaufort castle in southern Lebanon on Sunday, vowing to push ahead with the campaign against Hezbollah.
"The Israeli army will continue to operate decisively to remove threats from Lebanese territory and is prepared to transition rapidly to offensive operations should the ceasefire be violated," Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir told soldiers during the visit, according to a statement issued by the military.
Israeli forces seized the crusader-era castle and the area around it recently, giving the military a strategic toehold it previously occupied for nearly two decades.
Israel says it uncovered a tunnel network beneath the castle, saying it was built to give fighters of Lebanese group Hezbollah a fortified strike hub just kilometers from Israeli territory.
Israel previously overran the fortress during its 1982 invasion of Lebanon, after a prolonged battle with the Palestinian fighters hidden in the castle's maze of historic underground tunnels.
The castle was damaged by violent bombardment in the process.
Israel then used it as one of its main observation posts until its troops withdrew from the country in 2000.
"Our troops' activities at the Beaufort Ridge and throughout southern Lebanon are being carried out in accordance with the framework of the agreement and the mechanisms established under it," Zamir said on Sunday, referring to the recent US-brokered agreement between Israel and Lebanon intended to permanently halt hostilities.
But Zamir said that "any threat directed at our troops or the Israeli civilians will be struck immediately and eliminated".
"The Lebanese Armed Forces are required to fulfil their commitments under the historic agreement that was signed and act to clear the area of Hezbollah terrorists and terrorist infrastructure," he added.
Hezbollah drew Lebanon into the Middle East war on March 2 with rocket fire at Israel to avenge the killing of Iran's supreme leader in US-Israeli strikes days earlier.
Israel responded with massive airstrikes and a ground invasion of southern Lebanon, where its troops now occupy swathes of territory near the border.
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