UN Mission Announces Deployment of 1st Group of Monitors in Libya

A Libyan flag flutters. REUTERS/Costas Baltas/File Photo
A Libyan flag flutters. REUTERS/Costas Baltas/File Photo
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UN Mission Announces Deployment of 1st Group of Monitors in Libya

A Libyan flag flutters. REUTERS/Costas Baltas/File Photo
A Libyan flag flutters. REUTERS/Costas Baltas/File Photo

The UN envoy to Libya, Jan Kubis, has announced the start of the deployment of the first group of UN ceasefire monitors since October 10.

His announcement came in a letter he addressed to the members of the Joint Military Commission (5+5).

In his letter, Kubis affirmed the UN chief’s welcome to the Geneva Agreement on October 8, which stipulates the development of a comprehensive plan for the withdrawal of mercenaries and foreign forces from the country, stressing that the deployment of the first group of monitors is a step that will contribute to creating the conditions for the success of the action plan.

Kubis also mentioned that the monitors will settle in Tripoli during the first period until the arrangements for their deployment in Sirte are completed, and the monitors will work in cooperation with the Joint Commission and the Libyan parties concerned under Security Council Resolution 2570.

Kubis concluded by highlighting the importance of the UN’s support for efforts to implement the action plan, in addition to unifying the military institution to advance the disarmament, demobilization and reintegration tracks, in addition to reforming the security sector in Libya.

The UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has said he "trusts that the deployment of an initial team of United Nations ceasefire monitors will contribute to creating the conditions for successful implementation of the action plan."



Israeli Defense Minister Says He Will End Detention without Charge of Jewish Settlers

Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
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Israeli Defense Minister Says He Will End Detention without Charge of Jewish Settlers

Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians look at damaged cars after an Israeli settlers attack in Al-Mazraa Al-Qibleyeh near Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, November 20, 2024. (Reuters)

Israel’s new defense minister said Friday that he would stop issuing warrants to arrest West Bank settlers or hold them without charge or trial — a largely symbolic move that rights groups said risks emboldening settler violence in the Israeli-occupied territory.

Israel Katz called the arrest warrants “severe” and said issuing them was “inappropriate” as Palestinian militant attacks on settlers in the territory grow more frequent. He said settlers could be “brought to justice” in other ways.

The move protects Israeli settlers from being held in “administrative detention,” a shadowy form of incarceration where people are held without charge or trial.

Settlers are rarely arrested in the West Bank, where settler violence against Palestinians has spiraled since the outbreak of the war Oct. 7.

Katz’s decision was celebrated by far-right coalition allies of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. National Security Minister and settler firebrand Itamar Ben-Gvir applauded Katz and called the move a “correction of many years of mistreatment” and “justice for those who love the land.”

Since Oct. 7, 2023, violence toward Palestinians by Israeli settlers has soared to new heights, displacing at least 19 entire Palestinian communities, according to Israeli rights group Peace Now. In that time, attacks by Palestinian militants on settlers and within Israel have also grown more common.

An increasing number of Palestinians have been placed in administrative detention. Israel holds 3,443 administrative detainees in prison, according to data from the Israeli Prison Service, reported by rights group Hamoked. That figure stood around 1,200 just before the start of the war. The vast majority of them are Palestinian, with only a handful at any given time Israeli Jews, said Jessica Montell, the director of Hamoked.

“All of these detentions without charge or trial are illegitimate, but to declare that this measure will only be used against Palestinians...is to explicitly entrench another form of ethnic discrimination,” said Montell.