Libya, Chad Agree to Secure Borders to Stop Human Trafficking

Najla al-Manqoush and her Chadian counterpart on the sidelines of the Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Libya)
Najla al-Manqoush and her Chadian counterpart on the sidelines of the Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Libya)
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Libya, Chad Agree to Secure Borders to Stop Human Trafficking

Najla al-Manqoush and her Chadian counterpart on the sidelines of the Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Libya)
Najla al-Manqoush and her Chadian counterpart on the sidelines of the Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit. (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Libya)

Libya’s Foreign Minister Najla al-Manqoush discussed with her Chadian counterpart Sherif Mohamed Zein possible ways to secure the borders between their countries to prevent security breaches and confront the human trafficking groups.

Manqoush and Zein held a meeting Saturday on the sidelines of the Turkey-Africa Partnership Summit in Istanbul.

They agreed that the security of Libya is an integral part of Chad’s security, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Libya. They therefore, stressed the importance of working hand in hand to prevent any security violations, stop smuggling and confront human trafficking groups.

The Ministry added that the two ministers discussed the possibility of forming a joint force to protect the borders, in coordination with the relevant parties in Libya and Chad.

Manqoush stated that the security at the borders represents a priority to the Government of National Unity (GNU).

Head of the Libyan Presidential Council Mohammed al-Menfi had in mid-Nov in Paris discussed with President of the Chadian Transitional Military Council Gen. Mahamat Idriss Déby coordinating security cooperation efforts, monitoring the shared borders, and increasing coordination in combating terrorism and organized crime.

In another meeting with Vice President of the Libyan Presidential Council Moussa al-Koni, Déby suggested reactivating the Quartet Agreement comprising Libya, Sudan, Chad, and Niger through forming a joint military force on the borders with Libya.

The aim is to prevent the infiltration of insurgent groups, similar to what happened in April and that led to the killing of his father.

Insurgents, centered on the borders with Libya, killed President Idriss Déby days after he secured a sixth term in office.



Women and Children Scavenge for Food in Gaza, UN Official Says

 Palestinians walk on a destroyed street after Israeli forces withdrew from a part of Nuseirat, following a ground operation amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, November 29, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians walk on a destroyed street after Israeli forces withdrew from a part of Nuseirat, following a ground operation amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, November 29, 2024. (Reuters)
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Women and Children Scavenge for Food in Gaza, UN Official Says

 Palestinians walk on a destroyed street after Israeli forces withdrew from a part of Nuseirat, following a ground operation amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, November 29, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians walk on a destroyed street after Israeli forces withdrew from a part of Nuseirat, following a ground operation amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, November 29, 2024. (Reuters)

Large groups of women and children are scavenging for food among mounds of trash in parts of the Gaza Strip, a UN official said on Friday following a visit to the Palestinian enclave.

Ajith Sunghay, head of the UN Human Rights office for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, expressed concern about the levels of hunger, even in areas of central Gaza where aid agencies have teams on the ground.

"I was particularly alarmed by the prevalence of hunger," Sunghay told a Geneva press briefing via video link from Jordan. "Acquiring basic necessities has become a daily, dreadful struggle for survival."

Sunghay said the UN had been unable to take any aid to northern Gaza, where he said an estimated 70,000 people remain following "repeated impediments or rejections of humanitarian convoys by the Israeli authorities".

Sunghay visited camps for people recently displaced from parts of northern Gaza. They were living in horrendous conditions with severe food shortages and poor sanitation, he said.

"It is so obvious that massive humanitarian aid needs to come in – and it is not. It is so important the Israeli authorities make this happen," he said. He did not specify the last time UN agencies had sent aid to northern Gaza.

US WARNING

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin set out steps last month for Israel to carry out in 30 days to address the situation in Gaza, warning that failure to do so may have consequences on US military aid to Israel.

The State Department said on Nov. 12 that President Joe Biden's administration had concluded that Israel was not currently impeding assistance to Gaza and therefore was not violating US law.

The Israeli army, which began its offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip after the group's attack on southern Israeli communities in October 2023, said its operating in northern Gaza since Oct. 5 were trying to prevent militants regrouping and waging attacks from those areas.

Israel's government body that oversees aid, Cogat, says it facilitates the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, and accuses UN agencies of not distributing it efficiently.

Looting has also depleted aid supplies within the Gaza Strip, with nearly 100 food aid trucks raided on Nov. 16.

"The women I met had all either lost family members, were separated from their families, had relatives buried under rubble, or were themselves injured or sick," Sunghay said of his stay in the Gaza Strip.

"Breaking down in front of me, they desperately pleaded for a ceasefire."