Dbeibeh, Erdogan Discuss Sending More Turkish Military Personnel to Libya

Turkish President Erdogan and Libya's Dbeibeh leave after a news conference in Ankara, Turkey April 12, 2021. Presidential Press Office/Handout via Reuters
Turkish President Erdogan and Libya's Dbeibeh leave after a news conference in Ankara, Turkey April 12, 2021. Presidential Press Office/Handout via Reuters
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Dbeibeh, Erdogan Discuss Sending More Turkish Military Personnel to Libya

Turkish President Erdogan and Libya's Dbeibeh leave after a news conference in Ankara, Turkey April 12, 2021. Presidential Press Office/Handout via Reuters
Turkish President Erdogan and Libya's Dbeibeh leave after a news conference in Ankara, Turkey April 12, 2021. Presidential Press Office/Handout via Reuters

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and head of the Libyan Government of National Unity (GNU) Abdulhamid Dbeibeh discussed ongoing preparations to hold the Libyan elections in December, as well as raising the number of Turkish military personnel in the north African country.

The two officials had met in Istanbul on Friday.

Turkish media quoted sources as saying Erdogan and Dbeibeh were worried about the security tensions in the country.

Libyan political sources had said that Dbeibeh may run for president and this possibility has been backed by the candidacy criteria spelled out by the electoral commission and which appeared tailored to the GNU chief. This means that the elections will be held on time.

Erdogan told Dbeibeh on Friday said Turkey will continue to back the GNU on all levels.

The officials reviewed the security and military cooperation and marine zones memoranda of understanding that were signed between Tripoli and Ankara under the GNU’s predecessor, the Government of National Accord.

They agreed that the GNU would submit a new official request to Ankara so that it could increase the number of consultative and military personnel in Tripoli. They also agreed that a new batch of Libyan security personnel would be sent to Turkey to receive training.

Sources speculated that Turkey wanted to increase the number of its personnel in Tripoli due to the growing demands that it withdraw its foreign forces and mercenaries from Libya before the elections.

The 5+5 Joint Military Commission met in Geneva in October and approved a plan for the gradual withdrawal of foreign fighters and mercenaries.

It met again in Cairo last week, announcing that Sudan, Chad and Niger have expressed readiness to cooperate to pull out all their fighters from Libya.

Turkey, on the other hand, continued to fly out and in Syrian mercenaries. It did so a day after the Cairo talks concluded and after such flights had been halted for 15 days.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Tuesday that some 150 mercenaries had returned to Syria, while another 150 were flown to Libya from Turkey.



Gaza Civil Defense Says Israeli Forces Kill 18

A Palestinian mourns a relative killed in a strike on a school-turned-shelter in northern Gaza - AFP
A Palestinian mourns a relative killed in a strike on a school-turned-shelter in northern Gaza - AFP
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Gaza Civil Defense Says Israeli Forces Kill 18

A Palestinian mourns a relative killed in a strike on a school-turned-shelter in northern Gaza - AFP
A Palestinian mourns a relative killed in a strike on a school-turned-shelter in northern Gaza - AFP

Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli forces killed 18 people on Friday, including 10 who were waiting for aid in the south of the war-ravaged territory.

The fresh deaths came as the United Nations said nearly 800 people had been killed trying to access food in Gaza since late May, when Israel began easing a more than two-month total blockade on supplies.

UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said most of the deaths occurred near facilities operated by the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, AFP reported.

"We've recorded now 798 killings, including 615 in the vicinity of the GHF sites," from the time the group's operations began in late May until July 7, Shamdasani said Friday.

An officially private effort, GHF operations have been marred by chaotic scenes and frequent reports of Israeli forces firing on people waiting to collect rations.

The UN and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the foundation over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives and violates basic humanitarian principles.

Responding to the UN's figures, Israel's military said it had worked to minimize "possible friction between the population and the army forces as much as possible".

"Following incidents in which harm to civilians who arrived at distribution facilities was reported, thorough examinations were conducted... and instructions were issued to forces in the field following lessons learned," it added.

Gaza civil defense official Mohammed al-Mughayyir said that 10 people were shot by Israeli forces on Friday while waiting for supplies in the Al-Shakoush area northwest of Rafah, where there are regular reports of deadly fire on aid seekers.

- 'Extremely difficult' -

The civil defense reported six more people killed in four separate Israeli airstrikes in the area of Khan Yunis, in the south of the territory.

Two drone strikes around Gaza City in the north killed two more people, civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.

There was no immediate comment on the latest strikes from the Israeli military, which has recently expanded its operations across Gaza.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defense agency and other parties.

A Palestinian speaking to AFP from southern Gaza on condition of anonymity reported ongoing attacks and widespread devastation, with Israeli tanks seen near Khan Yunis.

"The situation remains extremely difficult in the area -- intense gunfire, intermittent airstrikes, artillery shelling, and ongoing bulldozing and destruction of displacement camps and agricultural land to the south, west and north of Al-Maslakh," an area to Khan Yunis's south, said the witness.

Israel's military said in a statement that its soldiers were operating in the area, dismantling "terrorist infrastructure sites, both above and below ground", and seizing "weapons and military equipment".

The civil defense also reported on Friday five people killed in an Israeli strike the previous night on a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in Jabalia al-Nazla, in northern Gaza.

Nearly all of Gaza's population has been displaced at least once during the more than 21-month war, which has created dire humanitarian conditions for the more than two million people living there.

Many have sought shelter in school buildings, but these have repeatedly come under Israeli attack, with the military often saying they were targeting Hamas militants hiding among civilians.