Libya Prepares to Deploy Local, Int’l Observers to Monitor Ceasefire

A photo distributed by the unity government of the meeting chaired by Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh in Tripoli
A photo distributed by the unity government of the meeting chaired by Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh in Tripoli
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Libya Prepares to Deploy Local, Int’l Observers to Monitor Ceasefire

A photo distributed by the unity government of the meeting chaired by Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh in Tripoli
A photo distributed by the unity government of the meeting chaired by Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh in Tripoli

Libya's warring parties are preparing for the first time to deploy local and international observers to monitor the ceasefire.

A committee was formed along with the Joint Military Commission (5 + 5) to oversee the monitoring of the ceasefire concluded last year, according to a military source.

The source told Asharq Al-Awsat that the committee included five officers of the Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, and five other soldiers from the forces affiliated with the unity government.

He indicated that international observers of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) were selected to join the monitoring process.

Last April, the UN Security Council approved the proposal of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, to deploy 60 observers in Sirte to monitor the ceasefire.

On Wednesday, the 5+5 Commission condemned hostile acts that aim to undermine the unity of the country and its stability on the Coastal Road between east and west Libya.

Some fans of sports clubs put photos of Khalifa Haftar on the highway so cars can pass over them before removing them after a match last Sunday.

The Commission warned in its statement that the chaos on the coastal road was a hate act aiming to destabilize Libya. It condemned all kinds of unrest and division on the highway or any other area in the country.

The statement added that the JMC calls on all relevant authorities to follow up on this issue and bring the perpetrators to justice so that the road remains safe and secure for all Libyans.

Meanwhile, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aguila Saleh, said that the High Council of State in Tripoli will not discuss the presidential elections law, stressing that it was up to the parliament to issue laws.

"The State Council is an advisory body, and we demand its participation within the limits of its powers," stressed Saleh.

The House of Representatives suspended its discussions on the draft law. However, the draft budget law amended by the unity government headed by Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh was referred to a special parliamentary committee for review.

In a letter to Dbeibeh, the head of the council said: "Since the budget bill has not been approved, you are required to spend from the previous year's budget, until the new general budget law is issued."

The clauses of the government's budget, estimated at LD111 billion, show that LD186 million have been allocated for the armed militias in Tripoli.

The Stability Support Apparatus, led by Ghneiwa al-Kikli, will receive LD40 million, and the Special Deterrence Forces of Abdel Raouf Kara, will get about LD146 million.

Local media outlets warned that such funds could enhance the influence of the militias and increase the country’s chaos.



UNRWA Lebanon Says Not Impacted by US Aid Freeze or New Israeli Law

 Head of UNRWA in Lebanon Dorothee Klaus speaks during a press conference in her offices in Beirut, Lebanon January 29, 2025. (Reuters)
Head of UNRWA in Lebanon Dorothee Klaus speaks during a press conference in her offices in Beirut, Lebanon January 29, 2025. (Reuters)
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UNRWA Lebanon Says Not Impacted by US Aid Freeze or New Israeli Law

 Head of UNRWA in Lebanon Dorothee Klaus speaks during a press conference in her offices in Beirut, Lebanon January 29, 2025. (Reuters)
Head of UNRWA in Lebanon Dorothee Klaus speaks during a press conference in her offices in Beirut, Lebanon January 29, 2025. (Reuters)

The director of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon said on Wednesday that the agency had not been affected by US President Donald Trump's halt to US foreign aid funding or by an Israeli ban on its operations.

"UNRWA currently is not receiving any US funding so there is no direct impact of the more recent decisions related to the UN system for UNRWA," Dorothee Klaus told reporters at UNRWA's field office in Lebanon.

US funding to UNRWA was suspended last year until March 2025 under a deal reached by US lawmakers and after Israel accused 12 of the agency's 13,000 employees in Gaza of participating in the deadly Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack that triggered the Gaza war.

The UN has said it had fired nine UNRWA staff who may have been involved and said it would investigate all accusations made.

Klaus said that UNRWA Lebanon had also placed four staff members on administrative leave as it investigated allegations they had breached the UN principle of neutrality.

One UNRWA teacher had already been suspended last year and a Hamas commander in Lebanon - killed in September in an Israeli strike - was found to have had an UNRWA job.

Klaus also said there was "no direct impact" on the agency's Lebanon operations from a new Israeli law banning UNRWA operations in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and that "UNRWA will continue fully operating in Lebanon."

The law, adopted in October, bans UNRWA's operation on Israeli land - including East Jerusalem, which Israel annexed in a move not recognized internationally - and contact with Israeli authorities from Jan. 30.

UNRWA provides aid, health and education services to millions in the Palestinian territories and neighboring Arab countries of Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.

Its commissioner general Philippe Lazzarini said on Tuesday that UNRWA has been the target of a "fierce disinformation campaign" to "portray the agency as a terrorist organization."