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.



Israeli Strike on Gaza Apartment Building Kills at Least 23

09 April 2025, Palestinian Territories, Gaza: Palestinians inspect the rubble of a building following an Israeli strike on a residential area in Gaza City's Shujaiyya neighborhood, on April 9, 2025. Photo: Omar Ashtawy/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
09 April 2025, Palestinian Territories, Gaza: Palestinians inspect the rubble of a building following an Israeli strike on a residential area in Gaza City's Shujaiyya neighborhood, on April 9, 2025. Photo: Omar Ashtawy/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
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Israeli Strike on Gaza Apartment Building Kills at Least 23

09 April 2025, Palestinian Territories, Gaza: Palestinians inspect the rubble of a building following an Israeli strike on a residential area in Gaza City's Shujaiyya neighborhood, on April 9, 2025. Photo: Omar Ashtawy/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
09 April 2025, Palestinian Territories, Gaza: Palestinians inspect the rubble of a building following an Israeli strike on a residential area in Gaza City's Shujaiyya neighborhood, on April 9, 2025. Photo: Omar Ashtawy/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Israeli aircraft struck a residential block in war-ravaged northern Gaza on Wednesday, killing at least 23 people, health officials said, as the renewed fighting in the devastated Palestinian enclave showed no signs of slowing.

The Al-Ahly hospital said at least 23 people were killed in the strike, including eight women and eight children. The territory's Health Ministry confirmed the figures.

The strike hit a four-story building in the Shijaiyah neighborhood of Gaza City, and rescue teams were searching for victims under the rubble, according to the Health Ministry’s emergency service. The civil defense, a rescue group that operates under the Hamas-run government, said other neighboring buildings were damaged in the strike.

The Israeli military said it struck a senior Hamas militant who it said was behind attacks emanating from Shijaiyah, but it didn't name him or provide further details. Israel blames the deaths of Palestinian civilians on the Hamas group, because it embeds itself in dense urban areas.

As it ratchets up pressure on Hamas to agree to free hostages, Israel has issued sweeping evacuation orders for parts of Gaza, including Shijaiyah. It imposed a blockade on food, fuel and humanitarian aid that has left civilians facing acute shortages as supplies dwindle. It has pledged to seize large parts of the Palestinian territory and establish a new security corridor through it.

The UN said the Israeli military has denied aid workers permission for more than two-thirds of 170 attempts to move humanitarian supplies within the Gaza Strip since the ceasefire ended. UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said efforts to get dwindling aid supplies to Palestinians were “severely strained.”

The Israeli military did not immediately comment.

Earlier this week, Hamas fired its strongest volley of rockets since the ceasefire collapsed, lobbing 10 projectiles toward southern Israel.

Israel resumed its war against Hamas in Gaza last month after an eight-week ceasefire collapsed. The ceasefire brought a much-needed reprieve from the fighting to war-weary Palestinians in Gaza and sent an infusion of humanitarian aid to the territory. It also led to the release of 25 living Israeli hostages held in Gaza and the return of the remains of eight others, in exchange for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners.

Mediators have since attempted to bring the sides to a bridging agreement that would again pause the war, free hostages and open the door for talks on the war's end, something Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he won't agree to until Hamas is defeated. Hamas wants the war to end before it frees the remaining 59 hostages it holds, 24 of whom are believed to be alive.

The war, which was sparked by Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on southern Israel, has seen the deadliest fighting between Israelis and Palestinians in their history. It has ignited a humanitarian crisis in already impoverished Gaza, and has sent shockwaves across the region and beyond.

Netanyahu traveled to Washington this week to meet with President Donald Trump. In their public statements, they offered sympathy for the plight of the hostages but shed little light on any emerging deal to suspend the fighting.

Trump has said he wants the war to end. But his postwar vision for Gaza — taking it over and relocating its population — has stunned Middle East allies, who say any talk of transferring the Palestinian population, by force or voluntarily, is a nonstarter. Israel has embraced the idea.

Netanyahu, meanwhile, is under pressure from his far-right political allies to continue the war until Hamas is crushed, an aim Israel has yet to achieve 18 months into the conflict.

French President Emmanuel Macron said France should move toward recognizing a Palestinian state in the coming months. The goal is to do that by June, when France and Saudi Arabia co-host an international conference about implementing a two-state solution, Macron told broadcaster France-5 in an interview aired Wednesday.

The war has killed more than 50,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the health ministry there, which does not differentiate between combatants and civilians in its count but says more than half of the dead are women and children.

Hamas killed 1,200 people during its Oct. 7 attack, mostly civilians, and took 250 people captive, many of whom have been freed in ceasefire deals.