Reopening of Coastal Highway Highlights Divisions in Libya

Bulldozers reopen the coastal highway. (AP)
Bulldozers reopen the coastal highway. (AP)
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Reopening of Coastal Highway Highlights Divisions in Libya

Bulldozers reopen the coastal highway. (AP)
Bulldozers reopen the coastal highway. (AP)

The coastal highway connecting Libya’s east and west was reopened on Sunday after a nearly two-year closure.

The Government of National Unity (GNU) hailed the development, but members of the 5+5 military committee have cast doubt over the move.

The committee stressed that it should have been consulted over the reopening.

The Libyan National Army (LNA), commanded by Khalifa Haftar, did not comment on the development. However, head of the Sirte command Ahmed Salem said that the committee did not issue any order to reopen the highway.

The committee met in Sirte on Sunday night. It declared that it alone has the authority to announce the opening of the highway and coordinate with the concerned parties.

The coastal highway has been closed since April 2019. Its reopening was a long-held demand by the UN to enable the safe passage of civilians and goods.

GNU chief Abdulhamid Dbeibeh announced the reopening on Sunday, saying: “I am so delighted to participate in the opening of this essential lifeline linking the east of our country to its west.”

The US embassy in Libya hailed the reopening, saying in a tweet it was “paving the path for Libyans to have full control over their own affairs.”

Sources revealed that a joint force, comprised of some 400 fighters from the east and west and overseen by the interior ministry, will operate in the region covering Ras Lanuf in the east to al-Hisha to secure the highway.



Lebanon’s President Reveals the Country’s Stance on Relations with Israel

 Lebanese President Joseph Aoun looks on during a meeting with Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides at the Presidential Palace in the capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP)
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun looks on during a meeting with Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides at the Presidential Palace in the capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP)
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Lebanon’s President Reveals the Country’s Stance on Relations with Israel

 Lebanese President Joseph Aoun looks on during a meeting with Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides at the Presidential Palace in the capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP)
Lebanese President Joseph Aoun looks on during a meeting with Cyprus' President Nikos Christodoulides at the Presidential Palace in the capital Nicosia, Cyprus, Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP)

Lebanon has no plans to have normal relations with Israel at the present time, and Beirut’s main aim is to reach a “state of no war” with its southern neighbor, the country’s president said Friday.

President Joseph Aoun’s comments came as the Trump administration is trying to expand the Abraham Accords signed in 2020 in which Israel signed historic pacts with United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.

In May, Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa said during a visit to France that his country is holding indirect talks with Israel to prevent military activities along their border from going out of control. Talks about peace between Israel and Syria have increased following the ouster of President Bashar al-Assad from power in December.

Aoun added in comments released by his office that only the Lebanese state will have weapons in the future, and the decision on whether Lebanon would go to war or not would be for the Lebanese government.

Aoun’s comments were an apparent reference to the armed Hezbollah group that fought a 14-month war with Israel, during which it suffered major blows including the killing of some of its top political and military commanders.

Hezbollah says it has ended its armed presence near the border with Israel, but is refusing to disarm in the rest of Lebanon before Israel withdraws from five overlooking border points and ends its almost daily airstrikes on Lebanon.

Earlier this week, US envoy Tom Barrack met with Lebanese leaders in Beirut, saying he was satisfied with the Lebanese government’s response to a proposal to disarm Hezbollah.

Hezbollah’s weapons have been one of the principal sticking points since Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000. Since then, Hezbollah fought two wars with Israel, one in 2006, and the other starting a day after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which triggered the war in Gaza.

The Hezbollah-Israel war, which ended with a US-brokered ceasefire in November, left more than 4,000 people dead in Lebanon and caused destruction estimated at $11 billion. In Israel, 127 people, including 80 soldiers, were killed during the war.

“Peace is the state of no war and this is what is important for us in Lebanon at the present time,” Aoun was quoted as telling visitors on Friday. He added that “the matter of normalization (with Israel) is not included in Lebanon’s current foreign policy.”

Lebanon and Israel have been at a state of war since 1948.