Libya’s Saleh, Mishri to Meet Soon

 A previous parliament session in Libya. (House of Representatives)
A previous parliament session in Libya. (House of Representatives)
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Libya’s Saleh, Mishri to Meet Soon

 A previous parliament session in Libya. (House of Representatives)
A previous parliament session in Libya. (House of Representatives)

Speaker of Libya’s House of Representatives (HoR) Aguila Saleh is preparing to hold a new round of Turkish-mediated talks with the Chairman of the High Council of State (HCS), Khalid al-Mishri, in an attempt to resolve the outstanding differences over the “constitutional basis” for the postponed presidential and parliamentary elections.

The parliament resumed its meetings on Monday at its headquarters in Benghazi, east of Libya, amid a surprise absence of its speaker.

Parliamentary sources said in a press statement that Saleh, who is preparing to visit Türkiye again to meet with Mishri, is currently in Cairo.

Parliament spokesman Abdullah Blehaq announced in a briefed statement the start of the session, chaired by its first deputy speaker, Fawzi al-Noueiri, to discuss a number of draft laws included in its agenda. The session also tackled the bill on salaries.

Mishri and Saleh had agreed in Rabat in October on the implementation of the article on sovereign posts, addressed in the Bouznika agreement, before the end of the year.

They also agreed on the resumption of dialogue with the aim of holding presidential and parliamentary elections with the agreement of the parliament and High Council of State.



Gaza: Polio Vaccine Campaign Kicks off a day Before Expected Pause in Fighting

A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Khan Younis, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Khan Younis, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
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Gaza: Polio Vaccine Campaign Kicks off a day Before Expected Pause in Fighting

A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Khan Younis, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
A health worker administers a polio vaccine to a child at a hospital in Khan Younis, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

A campaign to inoculate children in Gaza against polio and prevent the spread of the virus began on Saturday, Gaza's Health Ministry said, as Palestinians in both the Hamas-governed enclave and the occupied West Bank reeled from Israel's ongoing military offensives.

Children in Gaza began receiving vaccines, the health ministry told a news conference, a day before the large-scale vaccine rollout and planned pause in fighting agreed to by Israel and the UN World Health Organization. The WHO confirmed the larger campaign would begin Sunday.

“There must be a ceasefire so that the teams can reach everyone targeted by this campaign,” said Dr. Yousef Abu Al-Rish, deputy health minister, describing scenes of sewage running through crowded tent camps in Gaza.

Associated Press journalists saw about 10 infants receiving vaccine doses at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis.

Israel is expected to pause some operations in Gaza on Sunday to allow health workers to administer vaccines to some 650,000 Palestinian children. Officials said the pause would last at least nine hours and is unrelated to ongoing cease-fire negotiations.

“We will vaccinate up to 10-year-olds and God willing we will be fine,” said Dr. Bassam Abu Ahmed, general coordinator of public health programs at Al-Quds University.

The vaccination campaign comes after the first polio case in 25 years in Gaza was discovered this month. Doctors concluded a 10-month-old had been partially paralyzed by a mutated strain of the virus after not being vaccinated due to fighting.

Healthcare workers in Gaza have been warning of the potential for a polio outbreak for months. The humanitarian crisis has deepened during the war that broke out after Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were militants.

Hours earlier, the Health Ministry said hospitals received 89 dead on Saturday, including 26 who died in an overnight Israeli bombardment, and 205 wounded — one of the highest daily tallies in months.