Dbeibah Reopens Land Border Crossing Between Libya, Sudan

Head of Libya's Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah inaugurates an economic forum with Sudan in the Libyan capital, Tripoli. (GNU)
Head of Libya's Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah inaugurates an economic forum with Sudan in the Libyan capital, Tripoli. (GNU)
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Dbeibah Reopens Land Border Crossing Between Libya, Sudan

Head of Libya's Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah inaugurates an economic forum with Sudan in the Libyan capital, Tripoli. (GNU)
Head of Libya's Government of National Unity Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah inaugurates an economic forum with Sudan in the Libyan capital, Tripoli. (GNU)

Head of Libya's Government of National Unity (GNU) Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah announced on Monday reopening the land border crossing with Sudan.

He pledged to provide infrastructure to improve the economy between the two countries.

The announcement came during the opening session of the Libyan-Sudanese Economic Forum, which kicked off its activities on Monday in Tripoli under the title “Free Zone for Transit Trade.”

Dbeibah affirmed that Libya will work on developing the economic cooperation with all neighboring countries, especially Sudan.

He further underscored the importance of developing bilateral economic cooperation and holding a joint ministerial committee meeting.

Dbeibah later invited Chairman of Sudan’s Transitional Sovereign Council Abdel-Fattah al-Burhan and the Sudanese Prime Minister to visit Tripoli.

Separately, Dbeibah ordered the establishment of a body independent from the Health Ministry to follow up on oncology centers and help organize and secure the needed medicines.

He held an expanded meeting to discuss the matter with Health Minister Ramadan Abu Janah, the directors of oncology centers, the head of the Medical Supply Authority, and the director of the National Center for Decision Support.

The meeting touched on the challenges and obstacles facing the body and preventing it from carrying out its tasks, as well as the work mechanism of the medical centers.

He underlined the need to find radical solutions for the work of the centers, provide organized services to patients, and work according to an electronic system.



US, Arab Mediators Make Some Progress in Gaza Peace Talks, No Deal Yet

Palestinians inspect damaged residential buildings where two Israeli hostages were reportedly held before being rescued during an operation by Israeli security forces in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Feb. 12, 2024. (AP)
Palestinians inspect damaged residential buildings where two Israeli hostages were reportedly held before being rescued during an operation by Israeli security forces in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Feb. 12, 2024. (AP)
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US, Arab Mediators Make Some Progress in Gaza Peace Talks, No Deal Yet

Palestinians inspect damaged residential buildings where two Israeli hostages were reportedly held before being rescued during an operation by Israeli security forces in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Feb. 12, 2024. (AP)
Palestinians inspect damaged residential buildings where two Israeli hostages were reportedly held before being rescued during an operation by Israeli security forces in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Feb. 12, 2024. (AP)

US and Arab mediators have made some progress in their efforts to reach a ceasefire accord between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, but not enough to seal a deal, Palestinian sources close to the talks said on Thursday.
As talks continued in Qatar, the Israeli military carried out strikes across the enclave, killing at least 17 people, Palestinian medics said.
Qatar, the US and Egypt are making a major push to reach a deal to halt fighting in the 15-month conflict and free remaining hostages held by the Hamas group before President Joe Biden leaves office.
President-elect Donald Trump has warned there will be "hell to pay", if the hostages are not released by his inauguration on Jan. 20.
On Thursday, a Palestinian official close to the mediation effort said the absence of a deal so far did not mean the talks were going nowhere and said this was the most serious attempt so far to reach an accord.
"There are extensive negotiations, mediators and negotiators are talking about every word and every detail. There is a breakthrough when it comes to narrowing old existing gaps but there is no deal yet," he told Reuters, without giving further details.
On Tuesday, Israeli Foreign Ministry Director General Eden Bar-Tal said Israel was fully committed to reaching an agreement to return its hostages from Gaza but faces obstruction from Hamas.
The two sides have been at an impasse for a year over two key issues. Hamas has said it will only free its remaining hostages if Israel agrees to end the war and withdraw all its troops from Gaza. Israel says it will not end the war until Hamas is dismantled and all hostages are free.
SEVERE HUMANITARIAN CRISIS
On Thursday, the death toll from Israel's military strikes included eight Palestinians killed in a house in Jabalia, the largest of Gaza's eight historic refugee camps, where Israeli forces have operated for more than three months. Nine others, including a father and his three children, died in two separate airstrikes on two houses in central Gaza Strip, health officials said.
There was no Israeli military comment on the two incidents.
More than 46,000 people have been killed in the Gaza war, according to Palestinian health officials. Much of the enclave has been laid waste and most of the territory's 2.1 million people have been displaced multiple times and face acute shortages of food and medicine, humanitarian agencies say.
Israel denies hindering humanitarian relief to Gaza and says it has facilitated the distribution of hundreds of truckloads of food, water, medical supplies and shelter equipment to warehouses and shelters over the past week.
Israel launched its assault on Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing 1,200 people and capturing more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. On Wednesday, the Israeli military said troops had recovered the body of Israeli Bedouin hostage Youssef Al-Ziyadna, along with evidence that was still being examined suggesting his son Hamza, taken on the same day, may also be dead.
"We will continue to make every effort to return all of our hostages, the living and the deceased," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.