Guterres Calls on 'All Parties' to 'Preserve Stability' in Libya

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks as UN General Assembly appointed him for a second five-year term from January 1, 2022, in New York City, New York, US, June 18, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks as UN General Assembly appointed him for a second five-year term from January 1, 2022, in New York City, New York, US, June 18, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
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Guterres Calls on 'All Parties' to 'Preserve Stability' in Libya

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks as UN General Assembly appointed him for a second five-year term from January 1, 2022, in New York City, New York, US, June 18, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres speaks as UN General Assembly appointed him for a second five-year term from January 1, 2022, in New York City, New York, US, June 18, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly

UN chief Antonio Guterres called Friday on "all parties to continue to preserve stability in Libya as a top priority," after the country found itself with two competing prime ministers, raising the specter of renewed violence.

The secretary-general reminded "all institutions of the primary goal of holding national elections as soon possible," in a statement saying that he "takes note" of the Libyan parliament's naming of a new prime minister.

The UN chief's statement did not mention by name either Libya's interim Prime Minister Abdelhamid Dbeibah or the new prime minister appointed on Thursday, Fathi Bashagha.

Guterres also did not repeat what his spokesman had said a day earlier, namely that the UN has continued to support Dbeibah as interim prime minister.

Libya's parliament, based in the country's east hundreds of kilometers from the capital, voted to replace Dbeibah with former interior minister Bashagha, raising the prospect of a power struggle in the capital after a year and a half of relative calm.

Dbeibah, a construction tycoon appointed a year ago as part of United Nations-led peace efforts, has vowed only to hand power to a government that emerges from a democratic vote.

His unity government took office in early 2021.

But when December 24 elections were cancelled amid deep divisions over their legal basis and several controversial candidates, his rivals charged that his mandate had ended.



Gazans Shed Tears of Joy, Disbelief at News of Ceasefire Deal

Palestinians react to news of a ceasefire agreement with Israel, in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, 15 January 2025. (EPA)
Palestinians react to news of a ceasefire agreement with Israel, in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, 15 January 2025. (EPA)
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Gazans Shed Tears of Joy, Disbelief at News of Ceasefire Deal

Palestinians react to news of a ceasefire agreement with Israel, in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, 15 January 2025. (EPA)
Palestinians react to news of a ceasefire agreement with Israel, in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, 15 January 2025. (EPA)

Palestinians burst into celebration across the Gaza Strip on Wednesday at news of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, with some shedding tears of joy and others whistling and clapping and chanting "God is greatest".

"I am happy, yes, I am crying, but those are tears of joy," said Ghada, a mother of five displaced from her home in Gaza City during the 15-month-old conflict.

"We are being reborn, with every hour of delay Israel conducted a new massacre, I hope it is all getting over now," she told Reuters via a chat app from a shelter in Deir al-Balah town in central Gaza.

Youths beat tambourines, blew horns and danced in the street in Khan Younis in the southern part of the enclave minutes after hearing news of the agreement struck in the Qatari capital Doha. The deal outlines a six-week initial ceasefire phase and includes the gradual withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.

The accord also provides for the release of hostages held by Hamas in exchange for Palestinian detainees held by Israel, an official briefed on the negotiations told Reuters.

For some, delight was mingled with sorrow.

Ahmed Dahman, 25, said the first thing he would do when the deal goes into effect is to recover the body of his father, who was killed in an airstrike on the family's house last year, and "give him a proper burial."

'A DAY OF HAPPINESS AND SADNESS'

"I feel a mixture of happiness because lives are being saved and blood is being stopped," said Dahman, who like Ghada was displaced from Gaza City and lives in Deir al-Balah.

"But I am also worried about the post-war shock of what we will see in the streets, our destroyed homes, my father whose body is still under the rubble."

His mother, Bushra, said that while the ceasefire wouldn't bring her husband back, "at least it may save other lives."

"I will cry, like never before. This brutal war didn't give us time to cry," said the tearful mother, speaking to Reuters by a chat app.

Iman Al-Qouqa, who lives with her family in a nearby tent, was still in disbelief.

"This is a day of happiness, and sadness, a shock and joy, but certainly it is a day we all must cry and cry long because of what we all lost. We did not lose friends, relatives, and homes only, we lost our city, Israel sent us back in history because of its brutal war," she told Reuters.

"It is time the world comes back into Gaza, focuses on Gaza, and rebuilds it," said Qouqa.

Israeli troops invaded Gaza after Hamas-led gunmen broke through security barriers and burst into Israeli communities on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 soldiers and civilians and abducting more than 250 foreign and Israeli hostages. Israel's campaign in Gaza has killed more than 46,000 people, according to Gaza health ministry figures, and left the coastal enclave a wasteland, with many thousands living in makeshift shelters.