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UNSMIL Welcomes Opening of Libya’s Coastal Highway

The opening ceremony of the coastal highway at al-Khamseen Gate, west of Sirte (Ministry of Interior)
The opening ceremony of the coastal highway at al-Khamseen Gate, west of Sirte (Ministry of Interior)
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UNSMIL Welcomes Opening of Libya’s Coastal Highway

The opening ceremony of the coastal highway at al-Khamseen Gate, west of Sirte (Ministry of Interior)
The opening ceremony of the coastal highway at al-Khamseen Gate, west of Sirte (Ministry of Interior)

Libya witnessed on Friday the official opening of the vital coastal highway linking the east and west of the country after a two-year closure.

The United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) welcomed the move and congratulated the Libyan people for this "landmark and historic achievement."

"The opening of the Coastal Road is another step in strengthening peace, security, and stability in the country, and in the unification of its institutions," announced Special Envoy Jan Kubis.

He indicated that this is also a signal to the country's leaders to set aside their differences and work together to implement the roadmap and hold elections on December 24.

"The next major step in the ceasefire agreement's implementation process is to commence the withdrawal of all mercenaries, foreign fighters, and forces from Libya without delay," Kubis stressed.

The 5 + 5 Joint Military Commission (JMC) announced the opening of the coastal road on Friday. The commission includes representatives of the Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, and the unity government's forces.

The opening ceremony was held at al-Khamseen Gate, west of Sirte, and attended by JMC members, local officials, and the UNSMIL delegation. Hundreds of cars and trucks crossed the highway into the western region.

JMC member Major General Ahmed Abu Shahma said that this would end the suffering of citizens and accelerate the delivery of all necessary and humanitarian aid to all cities.

Abu Shahma explained that the committee seeks to remove mercenaries and foreign forces from Libyan territories, citing his talks with Kubis to help communicate with the relevant countries that have troops on Libyan soil to "get them out."

He said that the military engineering and demining teams are working to clear mines and secure the movement of travelers and cattle.

In a televised speech, Haftar cautioned that peace will not be possible “unless all foreign forces and mercenaries leave the Libyan territories unconditionally" and urged the international community to double its efforts to achieve this end.

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Arab World

West Bank Campus a Dystopian Shelter for Palestinians Uprooted Again

A man walks between empty student residences used by displaced families as shelters at the Arab American University outside Jenin, in the occupied West Bank. John WESSELS / AFP
A man walks between empty student residences used by displaced families as shelters at the Arab American University outside Jenin, in the occupied West Bank. John WESSELS / AFP
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West Bank Campus a Dystopian Shelter for Palestinians Uprooted Again

A man walks between empty student residences used by displaced families as shelters at the Arab American University outside Jenin, in the occupied West Bank. John WESSELS / AFP
A man walks between empty student residences used by displaced families as shelters at the Arab American University outside Jenin, in the occupied West Bank. John WESSELS / AFP

On deserted university grounds in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian children run outside nearly empty buildings, their playground after being driven from their homes by a major Israeli "counter-terrorism" operation.
Between a stadium and flower fields where goats now graze, the children play to escape boredom. They have no school to go to since the Israeli military ordered residents to leave the Jenin refugee camp more than two months ago, said AFP.
Mohammed Shalabi, a 53-year-old father who is among several hundred Palestinians sheltering at the university campus in Jenin city, recalled the day he heard that special Israeli forces were inside the camp.
"Everyone knows that when the army enters, it destroys the infrastructure, even the cars," said the municipal worker.
Tens of thousands of Palestinians have been displaced from the northern West Bank since Israel launched the offensive dubbed "Iron Wall" on January 21 in the area.
Shalabi first left Jenin camp for nearby villages before authorities offered accommodation at the now vacant premises of the Arab American University, one of the leading institutions in the West Bank.
Shalabi said he has avoided "discussing all of this" with his 80-year-old father to protect his fragile health.
"But he understands, and sometimes he cries, because he lived through the Nakba, and now this..." said Shalabi, referring to the mass displacement of Palestinians in the war that accompanied Israel's creation in 1948.
No return
Now forced to leave their homes in the Jenin refugee camp, residents fear a repeat of the collective trauma they inherited.
The United Nations agency supporting Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, provides aid but recent Israeli legislation barring coordination with Israeli military authorities has complicated its work.
The cash-strapped Palestinian Authority, which has partial administrative control in the West Bank, lacks the funds to help.
Many international organizations are already focusing much of their efforts in the Gaza Strip, a separate Palestinian territory where the Israel-Hamas war since October 2023 has created a dire humanitarian crisis.
"No one is interested in what's happening here," said a social worker who often visits the displacement shelter at the university to hand out blankets, food or grocery money.
Public services like rubbish collection are rare or virtually non-existent. Many displaced residents have asked for a temporary school to be set up for the children but to no avail.
Most shops are closed, and the nearest supermarket is a 20-minute walk away.
All the while, Israeli army bulldozers operate in the Jenin camp, leaving behind a trail of destruction.
"They told us we no longer have a home, and that we won't be returning to the camp," said displaced resident Umm Majd.
Some camp residents who attempted to go back say they were turned away.
In early March, an UNRWA official spoke of growing concerns that "the reality being created on the ground aligns with the vision of annexation of the West Bank."
'Day by day'
The new, makeshift camp has come into being on the university campus in what appears like a dystopian landscape.
The campus buildings carry names that give them an international and prestigious air, like Casa Bella and Concorde.
But many of them, not long ago busy with students, are abandoned.
Others have become home to families of the displaced who now cram into tiny studio apartments that served as campus housing.
The families cook on gas stoves and sleep on foam mattresses that have to be put away every morning to create space.
"We have 20 percent of the life we had in the camp," said Umm Majd, sharing a two-person room with three others.
Farmers bring goats to graze in fields around the campus.
Many of the students that used to fill the university halls and dorms before the Gaza war were Palestinian citizens of Israel, who generally stopped crossing into the West Bank for their studies.
Eateries in the area are either closed down or being refurbished, the sign of economic hardships across the West Bank that have worsened throughout the Gaza war.
"We live day by day. There's no outlook because of the lack of work and resources," said Ahmad Abu Jos, 30.
His baby boy Mustafa is learning to walk in the tiny apartment space, filled with the smell of detergents and cooking.
The boy's mother, Rama Abu Jos, said: "We left the camp, but not of our own free will. We hope to return home. No one likes life here."