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US Asserts 'Managing' Oil Revenues to 'Support Libyan People'

Dbeibeh-affiliated forces in Tripoli, Libya AFP
Dbeibeh-affiliated forces in Tripoli, Libya AFP
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US Asserts 'Managing' Oil Revenues to 'Support Libyan People'

Dbeibeh-affiliated forces in Tripoli, Libya AFP
Dbeibeh-affiliated forces in Tripoli, Libya AFP

US officials focused on the "management of Libya's oil revenues" in their meetings with interim Libyan unity government officials, headed by Abdel Hamid Dbeibeh and the governor of the Central Bank of Libya (CBL).

A statement by the US embassy said that a delegation that included US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs Joshua Harris, and Chargé d'Affaires Leslie Ordeman, met in Tunisia with CBL governor Siddiq el-Kaber. They discussed efforts to enhance financial transparency and promote economic stability.

They agreed on the importance of ensuring that Libya's resources provide essential services and support the Libyan people.

Kaber said that the meeting dealt with global economic challenges and CBL efforts to increase transparency and achieve financial and monetary sustainability in Libya.

In a second statement, the US embassy announced a meeting between Ordeman and a delegation from the Dbeibeh government, led by Minister of State for Cabinet Affairs Adel Juma, to discuss the importance of enhancing financial transparency and combating corruption.

Regarding the meeting, the US embassy announced in a tweet that the US "looks forward to building on this important conversation. We agreed that Libyan revenues belong to all of its people and must be distributed transparently and with accountability."

Meanwhile, the Zawiya Court of Appeal accepted the petition submitted by the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Public Property Authority, Samir al-Belazi, against Dbeibeh's decision.

Earlier, the head of the Presidential Council, Mohammed Menfi, sent a letter to Dbeibeh asking him to keep the real estate registration system closed until the current transitional stages are completed.

In the letter, which was leaked to local media, Menfi demanded that the role of the authority during the transitional period be limited to administrative work only.

In addition, 32 members of the House of Representatives (HoR) from the eastern region demanded its speaker, Aguila Saleh, hold a live session to discuss the country's unamended 1951 constitution and return to the federal system based on the three historical regions.

The statement called on HOR members to support this request, pointing out that the referendum on the draft constitution completed by the Constitution Drafting Assembly has failed.

Furthermore, Egypt's Permanent Representative at the UN Ambassador Osama Abdel-Khalek affirmed his country's full support to the UN envoy to Libya, Abdoulaye Bathiliy, in his new mission.

Abdel-Khalek met with the UN envoy in New York, during which he stressed the international community's reliance on Bathiliy's constructive efforts to advance the political process in Libya during the current critical stage the country is going through.

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Israel Hits Beirut after Rockets Fired from South Lebanon, Warns Govt to Enforce Ceasefire or it Will

People gather at the site of an Israeli strike in southern Beirut on March 28, 2025. (AFP)
People gather at the site of an Israeli strike in southern Beirut on March 28, 2025. (AFP)
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Israel Hits Beirut after Rockets Fired from South Lebanon, Warns Govt to Enforce Ceasefire or it Will

People gather at the site of an Israeli strike in southern Beirut on March 28, 2025. (AFP)
People gather at the site of an Israeli strike in southern Beirut on March 28, 2025. (AFP)

Israel made good on its threat Friday to strike Beirut after rockets were fired towards its territory, rattling an already fragile truce in Lebanon that had largely ended more than a year of hostilities with Hezbollah.

It was the second time rockets had been launched at Israel from Lebanon since the November ceasefire, and the second time the Iran-backed Hezbollah denied involvement.

After the attack, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said: "If there is no quiet in Kiryat Shmona and the Galilee communities, there will be no quiet in Beirut either."

Hours later, the Israeli military carried out its first strike in the capital's southern suburbs since the ceasefire after urging residents close to a building there to leave, warning they were "near Hezbollah facilities" and "must immediately evacuate".

It said the attack targeted a "site used to store UAVs by Hezbollah's Aerial Unit (127) in the area of Dahieh, a key Hezbollah terrorist stronghold in Beirut", which Israel bombed heavily during its war with the group last year.  

Israel's warning sparked panic in the densely populated area, with parents rushing to pick up their children from schools that quickly shut, AFP correspondents said.  

Heavy traffic clogged roads as many residents tried to flee.  

Katz said the Lebanese government must enforce the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hezbollah on its side of the border, or Israel would continue to conduct attacks.

"I am sending a clear message to the Lebanese government: If you do not enforce the ceasefire agreement, we will enforce it," he said in a statement after Israeli aircraft hit targets in Beirut.

Israel's military said early Friday two "projectiles" were fired towards Israel, with one intercepted and the other falling inside Lebanon.  

It later announced it was "striking Hezbollah terror targets in southern Lebanon".  

Hezbollah said it "confirms the party's respect for the ceasefire agreement and denies any involvement in the rockets launched today from the south of Lebanon".  

The group's leader, Naim Qassem, had been expected to give a speech in the southern suburbs later Friday, but Hezbollah said the event had now been cancelled.  

Katz said Lebanon's "government bears direct responsibility for any fire toward the Galilee".  

Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam urged his army chief "to act quickly to... uncover those behind the irresponsible rocket fire that threatens Lebanon's stability" and arrest them.  

- Schools closed -  

The November ceasefire largely ended the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, although Israel has continued to conduct occasional strikes in southern Lebanon.  

French President Emmanuel Macron called the reported Israeli air strike on Lebanon "unacceptable" and a "violation of the ceasefire".  

France is on the committee tasked with overseeing the ceasefire.  

Friday's rocket fire came after Israeli strikes Thursday killed six people in the south, with Israel saying it had targeted Hezbollah members.  

NNA reported Israeli attacks in several parts of the south Friday. It said a strike on Kfar Tebnit southeast of Nabatiyeh killed one person and wounded 18, including three children.  

It also reported shelling in Naqoura, where the UN peacekeeping mission is based.  

UN special envoy for Lebanon Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert called the flare-up "deeply concerning" and urged restraint.  

"A return to wider conflict in Lebanon would be devastating for civilians on both sides of the Blue Line and must be avoided at all costs," she said.  

The NNA also reported raids on the Jezzine region north of the Litani River, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the border with Israel.  

Schools closed in the Nabatieh area, an AFP correspondent said, as did some in Tyre which was hit by a deadly Israeli strike last weekend.  

"I decided to bring my children to school in spite of the situation, but the administration told me they had closed it after the Israeli threats and I had to take them back home," father of four Ali Qassem told AFP.  

- Escalation -  

Hezbollah began firing rockets at Israel on October 8, 2023 in support of its ally Hamas following the Palestinian group's unprecedented attack on southern Israel that sparked the war in Gaza.  

The cross-border hostilities ultimately escalated into all-out war, with Israel conducting an intense bombing campaign in Lebanon and sending in ground troops.  

The truce brought a partial Israeli withdrawal, although its troops still hold five positions in south Lebanon that are deemed strategic, even after the pullout deadline.  

Last weekend saw the most intense escalation since the truce, with Israeli strikes in the south after rocket fire killing eight people, according to Lebanese officials.  

Hezbollah had also denied any involvement in that rocket attack, calling Israel's accusations "pretexts for its continued attacks on Lebanon".  

Under the ceasefire, Hezbollah was to pull its forces north of the Litani, and dismantle any remaining military infrastructure in the south.  

Israel has also recently resumed intensive military operations in Gaza, shattering weeks of relative calm brought on by a January ceasefire with Hamas.