Bashagha to Set Up Govt in Sirte after Tripoli Clashes

Fathi Bashagha, then Libya's interior minister, sits during an interview Jan. 6, 2021 in Tripoli, Libya. (AP)
Fathi Bashagha, then Libya's interior minister, sits during an interview Jan. 6, 2021 in Tripoli, Libya. (AP)
TT
20

Bashagha to Set Up Govt in Sirte after Tripoli Clashes

Fathi Bashagha, then Libya's interior minister, sits during an interview Jan. 6, 2021 in Tripoli, Libya. (AP)
Fathi Bashagha, then Libya's interior minister, sits during an interview Jan. 6, 2021 in Tripoli, Libya. (AP)

Libyan Prime Minister Fathi Bashagha said Wednesday he would seat his government in the central city of Sirte, after clashes forced him to abort his attempt the previous day to bring his Cabinet to the Libyan capital of Tripoli.

He announced that he has chosen the city of Sirte, along Libya’s Mediterranean coast and half way between the country’s east and west, serving as a link between them.

Bashagha, a former interior minister, was named prime minister by the country’s east-based parliament in February. But his rival, Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah, based in Tripoli, in the country's west, has refused to step down, insisting he will hand over power only to an elected government.

Dbeibah was appointed last year in a UN-led process, mired in allegations of corruption and bribery, to lead the country through elections in December that never took place.

Bashagha attempted Tuesday to seat his government Tripoli, in a move that resulted in clashes with militias allied with Dbeibah just hours after Bashagha and his Cabinet ministers entered the Libyan capital. At least one man was killed and five others wounded in the clashes, authorities said.

Both prime ministers blamed each other for provoking the violence, which raised fears that the country could once again return to civil war after more than a year of tense calm.

"Libya will not be stopped by a city or region," Bashagha told reporters from Sirte late Tuesday, describing Tripoli as a "kidnaped city" held by his rival, Dbeibah.

Bashagha said he would return to Tripoli once he makes sure that "there will no bloodshed."

Sirte is also the gateway to the country’s major oil fields and export terminals.

Bashagha’s move to Sirte is likely to deepen the political split in the already divided country and intensify the crisis.

The idea of seating the Libyan government in Sirte was floated in the 2020 talks that ended the latest major bout of fighting in Libya. More recently, influential Parliament Speaker Aguila Saleh - an ally of Bashagha - called for him to operate from Sirte rather than attempt to set up his government in Tripoli.



Aid to Gaza 'Facing Total Collapse', Warn 12 NGOs

 A Palestinian boy looks through a hole in the wall into a damaged room after an Israeli strike on a school housing displaced Palestinians in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 17, 2025. (AFP)
A Palestinian boy looks through a hole in the wall into a damaged room after an Israeli strike on a school housing displaced Palestinians in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 17, 2025. (AFP)
TT
20

Aid to Gaza 'Facing Total Collapse', Warn 12 NGOs

 A Palestinian boy looks through a hole in the wall into a damaged room after an Israeli strike on a school housing displaced Palestinians in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 17, 2025. (AFP)
A Palestinian boy looks through a hole in the wall into a damaged room after an Israeli strike on a school housing displaced Palestinians in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on April 17, 2025. (AFP)

The humanitarian aid system in Gaza is "facing total collapse" because of Israel's blockade on aid supplies since March 2, the heads of 12 major aid organizations warned Thursday, urging Israel to let them "do our jobs".

Israel has vowed to maintain its blockage on humanitarian aid to the war-ravaged territory, saying it is the only way to force Hamas to release the 58 hostages still held there.

"Every single person in Gaza is relying on humanitarian aid to survive," the chief executives of 12 NGOs, including Oxfam and Save the Children, wrote in a joint statement.

"That lifeline has been completely cut off since a blockade on all aid supplies was imposed by Israeli authorities on March 2," they said, adding that "This is one of the worst humanitarian failures of our generation."

A survey of 43 international and Palestinian aid organizations working in Gaza found that almost all have suspended or drastically cut services since a ceasefire ended on March 18, "with widespread and indiscriminate bombing making it extremely dangerous to move around", the NGOs said.

"Famine is not just a risk, but likely rapidly unfolding in almost all parts of Gaza," they said. "Survival itself is now slipping out of reach and the humanitarian system is at breaking point."

"We call on all parties to guarantee the safety of our staff and to allow the safe, unfettered access of aid into and across Gaza through all entry points, and for world leaders to oppose further restrictions."

Israel's renewed assault has killed at least 1,691 people in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, bringing the overall toll since the war erupted to 51,065, most of them civilians.

Hamas's October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, also mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.