Egyptian PM Visits Tripoli to Discuss Political, Economic Cooperation

Libyan PM Abdul Hamid Dbeibah met with his Egyptian counterpart Mostafa Madbouly in Tripoli on Tuesday, April 20, 2021 (the Prime Minister’s Media Office)
Libyan PM Abdul Hamid Dbeibah met with his Egyptian counterpart Mostafa Madbouly in Tripoli on Tuesday, April 20, 2021 (the Prime Minister’s Media Office)
TT

Egyptian PM Visits Tripoli to Discuss Political, Economic Cooperation

Libyan PM Abdul Hamid Dbeibah met with his Egyptian counterpart Mostafa Madbouly in Tripoli on Tuesday, April 20, 2021 (the Prime Minister’s Media Office)
Libyan PM Abdul Hamid Dbeibah met with his Egyptian counterpart Mostafa Madbouly in Tripoli on Tuesday, April 20, 2021 (the Prime Minister’s Media Office)

A high-ranking ministerial delegation from Egypt, headed by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, arrived in Tripoli on an official visit on Tuesday.

Madbouly was received by his Libyan counterpart Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, marking the first visit of an Egyptian PM since 2011 and the latest by an Arab premier.

The visit aims to support the new executive authority and discuss economic, political and trade cooperation.

Both officials discussed Libyan-Egyptian cooperation in various fields, including the return of the Egyptian labor force and the participation in reconstructing Libya.

Dbeibah hailed Cairo’s “significant role” in bolstering and supporting political dialogue and finding a comprehensive solution to the Libyan crisis.

In a joint press conference following the talks, Dbeibah said bilateral cooperation will take place in several areas, including electricity, communications, health, manpower and infrastructure, transportation and investment.

He highlighted the most important advantage of the unity government, which is restoring relations with brotherly countries.

Madbouly affirmed that his visit to Tripoli aims at affirming Cairo’s support for the newly established unity government “in this critical period to achieve reconciliation and development.”

The accompanying ministerial delegation will ensure setting a timetable for future cooperation, he noted.

“Cairo supports all efforts to achieve reconciliation among Libyans and settle the crisis.”

The Egyptian delegation includes 11 officials, namely the ministers of electricity and renewable energy, petroleum and mineral resources, manpower, higher education and scientific research, international cooperation, health and population, communications and information technology, housing, utilities and urban communities, transportation, civil aviation and trade and industry.

Madbouly was also accompanied by CEO of the General Authority for Investment and Free Zones (GAFI) Counselor Mohammed Abdel Wahab, as well as representatives of concerned authorities and investors.



Women and Children Scavenge for Food in Gaza, UN Official Says

 Palestinians walk on a destroyed street after Israeli forces withdrew from a part of Nuseirat, following a ground operation amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, November 29, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians walk on a destroyed street after Israeli forces withdrew from a part of Nuseirat, following a ground operation amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, November 29, 2024. (Reuters)
TT

Women and Children Scavenge for Food in Gaza, UN Official Says

 Palestinians walk on a destroyed street after Israeli forces withdrew from a part of Nuseirat, following a ground operation amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, November 29, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians walk on a destroyed street after Israeli forces withdrew from a part of Nuseirat, following a ground operation amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, November 29, 2024. (Reuters)

Large groups of women and children are scavenging for food among mounds of trash in parts of the Gaza Strip, a UN official said on Friday following a visit to the Palestinian enclave.

Ajith Sunghay, head of the UN Human Rights office for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, expressed concern about the levels of hunger, even in areas of central Gaza where aid agencies have teams on the ground.

"I was particularly alarmed by the prevalence of hunger," Sunghay told a Geneva press briefing via video link from Jordan. "Acquiring basic necessities has become a daily, dreadful struggle for survival."

Sunghay said the UN had been unable to take any aid to northern Gaza, where he said an estimated 70,000 people remain following "repeated impediments or rejections of humanitarian convoys by the Israeli authorities".

Sunghay visited camps for people recently displaced from parts of northern Gaza. They were living in horrendous conditions with severe food shortages and poor sanitation, he said.

"It is so obvious that massive humanitarian aid needs to come in – and it is not. It is so important the Israeli authorities make this happen," he said. He did not specify the last time UN agencies had sent aid to northern Gaza.

US WARNING

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin set out steps last month for Israel to carry out in 30 days to address the situation in Gaza, warning that failure to do so may have consequences on US military aid to Israel.

The State Department said on Nov. 12 that President Joe Biden's administration had concluded that Israel was not currently impeding assistance to Gaza and therefore was not violating US law.

The Israeli army, which began its offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip after the group's attack on southern Israeli communities in October 2023, said its operating in northern Gaza since Oct. 5 were trying to prevent militants regrouping and waging attacks from those areas.

Israel's government body that oversees aid, Cogat, says it facilitates the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, and accuses UN agencies of not distributing it efficiently.

Looting has also depleted aid supplies within the Gaza Strip, with nearly 100 food aid trucks raided on Nov. 16.

"The women I met had all either lost family members, were separated from their families, had relatives buried under rubble, or were themselves injured or sick," Sunghay said of his stay in the Gaza Strip.

"Breaking down in front of me, they desperately pleaded for a ceasefire."