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.



Israel Military Says Soldier Killed in Gaza 

A drone view shows the destruction in a residential neighborhood, after the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the area, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in Gaza City, October 21, 2025. (Reuters)
A drone view shows the destruction in a residential neighborhood, after the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the area, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in Gaza City, October 21, 2025. (Reuters)
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Israel Military Says Soldier Killed in Gaza 

A drone view shows the destruction in a residential neighborhood, after the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the area, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in Gaza City, October 21, 2025. (Reuters)
A drone view shows the destruction in a residential neighborhood, after the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the area, amid a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, in Gaza City, October 21, 2025. (Reuters)

The Israeli military announced that one of its soldiers had been killed in combat in southern Gaza on Wednesday, but a security source said the death appeared to have been caused by "friendly fire".

"Staff Sergeant Ofri Yafe, aged 21, from HaYogev, a soldier in the Paratroopers Reconnaissance Unit, fell during combat in the southern Gaza Strip," the military said in a statement.

A security source, however, told AFP that the soldier appeared to have been "killed by friendly fire", without providing further details.

"The incident is still under investigation," the source added.

The death brings to five the number of Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza since a ceasefire took effect on October 10.


Syria: SDF’s Mazloum Abdi Says Implementation of Integration Deal May Take Time

People sit outdoors surrounded by nature, with the Tigris river flowing in the background, following a long atmospheric depression, near the Syrian-Turkish border in Derik, Syria, February 16, 2026 REUTERS/Orhan Qereman
People sit outdoors surrounded by nature, with the Tigris river flowing in the background, following a long atmospheric depression, near the Syrian-Turkish border in Derik, Syria, February 16, 2026 REUTERS/Orhan Qereman
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Syria: SDF’s Mazloum Abdi Says Implementation of Integration Deal May Take Time

People sit outdoors surrounded by nature, with the Tigris river flowing in the background, following a long atmospheric depression, near the Syrian-Turkish border in Derik, Syria, February 16, 2026 REUTERS/Orhan Qereman
People sit outdoors surrounded by nature, with the Tigris river flowing in the background, following a long atmospheric depression, near the Syrian-Turkish border in Derik, Syria, February 16, 2026 REUTERS/Orhan Qereman

Mazloum Abdi, commander of the Syrian Democratic Forces, said the process of merging the SDF with Syrian government forces “may take some time,” despite expressing confidence in the eventual success of the agreement.

His remarks came after earlier comments in which he acknowledged differences with Damascus over the concept of “decentralization.”

Speaking at a tribal conference in the northeastern city of Hasakah on Tuesday, Abdi said the issue of integration would not be resolved quickly, but stressed that the agreement remains on track.

He said the deal reached last month stipulates that three Syrian army brigades will be created out of the SDF.

Abdi added that all SDF military units have withdrawn to their barracks in an effort to preserve stability and continue implementing the announced integration agreement with the Syrian state.

He also emphasized the need for armed forces to withdraw from the vicinity of the city of Ayn al-Arab (Kobani), to be replaced by security forces tasked with maintaining order.


Israeli Far-Right Minister to Push for ‘Migration’ of West Bank, Gaza Palestinians 

A Palestinian man checks leather belts as people prepare for Ramadan, in the old city of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 17,2026. (Reuters)
A Palestinian man checks leather belts as people prepare for Ramadan, in the old city of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 17,2026. (Reuters)
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Israeli Far-Right Minister to Push for ‘Migration’ of West Bank, Gaza Palestinians 

A Palestinian man checks leather belts as people prepare for Ramadan, in the old city of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 17,2026. (Reuters)
A Palestinian man checks leather belts as people prepare for Ramadan, in the old city of Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, February 17,2026. (Reuters)

Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he would pursue a policy of "encouraging the migration" of Palestinians from the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, Israeli media reported Wednesday.

"We will eliminate the idea of an Arab terror state," said Smotrich, speaking at an event organized by his Religious Zionism Party late on Tuesday.

"We will finally, formally, and in practical terms nullify the cursed Oslo Accords and embark on a path toward sovereignty, while encouraging emigration from both Gaza and Judea and Samaria.

"There is no other long-term solution," added Smotrich, who himself lives in a settlement in the West Bank.

Since last week, Israel has approved a series of measures backed by far-right ministers to tighten control over the West Bank, including in areas administered by the Palestinian Authority under the Oslo Accords, in place since the 1990s.

The measures include a process to register land in the West Bank as "state property" and facilitate direct purchases of land by Jewish Israelis.

The measures have triggered widespread international outrage.

On Tuesday, the UN missions of 85 countries condemned the measures, which critics say amount to de facto annexation of the Palestinian territory.

"We strongly condemn unilateral Israeli decisions and measures aimed at expanding Israel's unlawful presence in the West Bank," they said in a statement.

"Such decisions are contrary to Israel's obligations under international law and must be immediately reversed.

"We underline in this regard our strong opposition to any form of annexation."

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday called on Israel to reverse its land registration policy, calling it "destabilizing" and "unlawful".

The West Bank would form the largest part of any future Palestinian state. Many on Israel's religious right view it as Israeli land.

Israeli NGOs have also raised the alarm over a settlement plan signed by the government which they say would mark the first expansion of Jerusalem's borders into the occupied West Bank since 1967.

The planned development, announced by Israel's Ministry of Construction and Housing, is formally a westward expansion of the Geva Binyamin, or Adam, settlement situated northeast of Jerusalem in the West Bank.

The current Israeli government has fast-tracked settlement expansion, approving a record 52 settlements in 2025.

Excluding Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israelis live in West Bank settlements and outposts, which are illegal under international law.