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UNSMIL Calls for Coordinating Int’l Efforts to Hold Libya Elections

Special Representative of the UN Secretary General to Libya Abdoulaye Bathily speaks during a meeting with Arab Foreign Ministers in the capital of Tripoli, Sunday Jan. 22, 2023. (AP)
Special Representative of the UN Secretary General to Libya Abdoulaye Bathily speaks during a meeting with Arab Foreign Ministers in the capital of Tripoli, Sunday Jan. 22, 2023. (AP)
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UNSMIL Calls for Coordinating Int’l Efforts to Hold Libya Elections

Special Representative of the UN Secretary General to Libya Abdoulaye Bathily speaks during a meeting with Arab Foreign Ministers in the capital of Tripoli, Sunday Jan. 22, 2023. (AP)
Special Representative of the UN Secretary General to Libya Abdoulaye Bathily speaks during a meeting with Arab Foreign Ministers in the capital of Tripoli, Sunday Jan. 22, 2023. (AP)

Special Representative of the UN Sec-Gen and head of UN Special Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) Abdoulaye Bathily reiterated his calls to all international parties concerned with Libya to coordinate efforts and positions in support of holding elections and achieving peace and stability in the country.

Bathily met France's Minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs Catherine Colonna and discussed political and security developments in Libya and the need to for support a Libyan-Libyan process to facilitate inclusive, transparent elections in 2023.

"I called for international stakeholders to unify their positions and speak with one voice to support elections and fulfill Libyan's aspirations for peace and stability," he tweeted.

Meanwhile, head of the interim Government of National Unity (GNU) Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah discussed with Chairman of the Presidential Council Mohamed al-Menfi the executive steps related to the elections.

They also reviewed the government's preparations for holding the elections, preparing the poll stations, and increasing coordination with the General Elections Commission.

Meanwhile, armed militias loyal to the Dbeibah government closed the al-Hira gate in Gharyan to prevent him from visiting the city to open youth hostels. They accused him of reneging on pledges and relocating some projects from the city to other areas.

Eyewitnesses and local media reported that commander of the "Bou Ghalyan Martyrs Brigade" in Gharyan, Nasser Shatiba, ordered his members to close the western entrance to the city.

The armed groups also continued to close the Dafniya road in Misrata, demanding the government pay financial dues in exchange for reopening it.

Separately, Dbeibah did not comment on reports that said he had held secret talks with one of the sons of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA).

Meanwhile, Menfi discussed with the Chairman of National Oil Corporation, Farhat ben Qadara, the challenges facing the oil sector.

Furthermore, the head of Libya's government of stability, Fathi Bashagha, said that he discussed with the defense minister, Ahmid Homa, in Sirte, the ministry's plan to support the work of the 5 + 5 Joint Military Committee (JMC) to unify the military.

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Arab World

Potential Hezbollah Leader Out of Contact Since Friday, Lebanese Source Says

A damaged vehicle lies amidst the rubble in the aftermath of the Israeli strikes, amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in the Chiyah area of Dahiyeh, Beirut, October 5, 2024. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki
A damaged vehicle lies amidst the rubble in the aftermath of the Israeli strikes, amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in the Chiyah area of Dahiyeh, Beirut, October 5, 2024. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki
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Potential Hezbollah Leader Out of Contact Since Friday, Lebanese Source Says

A damaged vehicle lies amidst the rubble in the aftermath of the Israeli strikes, amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in the Chiyah area of Dahiyeh, Beirut, October 5, 2024. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki
A damaged vehicle lies amidst the rubble in the aftermath of the Israeli strikes, amid ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in the Chiyah area of Dahiyeh, Beirut, October 5, 2024. REUTERS/Louisa Gouliamaki

The potential successor to slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has been out of contact since Friday, a Lebanese security source said on Saturday, after an Israeli airstrike that is reported to have targeted him.

In its campaign against the Iran-backed Lebanese group, Israel carried out a large strike on Beirut's southern suburbs late on Thursday that Axios cited three Israeli officials as saying targeted Hashem Safieddine in an underground bunker.

The Lebanese security source and two other Lebanese security sources said that Israeli strikes since Friday on Dahiyeh, a residential suburb and Hezbollah stronghold in southern Beirut, have kept rescue workers from scouring the site of the attack.

Hezbollah has made no comment so far on Safieddine since the attack.

Israeli Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said on Friday the military was still assessing the Thursday night airstrikes, which he said targeted Hezbollah's intelligence headquarters.

The loss of Nasrallah's rumored successor would be yet another blow to Hezbollah and its patron Iran. Israeli strikes across the region in the past year, sharply accelerated in the past few weeks, have decimated Hezbollah's leadership.

Israel expanded its conflict in Lebanon on Saturday with its first strike in the northern city of Tripoli, a Lebanese security official said, after more bombs hit Beirut suburbs and Israeli troops launched raids in the south.

Israel has begun an intense bombing campaign in Lebanon and sent troops across the border in recent weeks after nearly a year of exchanging fire with Hezbollah. Fighting had previously been mostly limited to the Israel-Lebanon border area, taking place in parallel to Israel's year-old war in Gaza against Palestinian group Hamas.

Israel says it aims to allow the safe return of tens of thousands of citizens to their homes in northern Israel, bombarded by Hezbollah since Oct. 8 last year.

The Israeli attacks have eliminated much of Hezbollah's senior military leadership, including Secretary General Nasrallah in an air attack on Sept. 27.

The Israeli assault has also killed hundreds of ordinary Lebanese, including rescue workers, Lebanese officials say, and forced 1.2 million people - almost a quarter of the population - to flee their homes.

Lebanon's health ministry said on Saturday that Israeli strikes had killed at least 25 people and wounded 127 others the day before.

The Lebanese security official told Reuters that Saturday's strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in Tripoli killed a member of Hamas, his wife and two children. Media affiliated with the Palestinian group said the strike killed a leader of its armed wing, naming him as Saeed Atallah.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strike on Tripoli, a Sunni Muslim-majority port city that its warplanes also targeted during a 2006 war with Hezbollah.

It said in a later statement that it had killed two Hamas members operating in Lebanon, but did not say where they were killed. There was no immediate comment from Hamas.

ISRAEL WEIGHS OPTIONS FOR IRAN

The violence comes as the anniversary approaches of Hamas' attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 people and in which about 250 were taken as hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's subsequent assault on Gaza has killed nearly 42,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's health ministry, and displaced nearly all of the enclave's population of 2.3 million.

Iran, which backs both Hezbollah and Hamas, and which has lost key commanders of its elite Revolutionary Guards Corps to Israeli air strikes in Syria this year, launched a salvo of ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday. The strikes did little damage.

Israel has been weighing options in its response to Iran's attack.

Oil prices have risen on the possibility of an attack on Iran's oil facilities as Israel pursues its goals of pushing back Hezbollah in Lebanon and eliminating their Hamas allies in Gaza.

US President Joe Biden on Friday urged Israel to consider alternatives to striking Iranian oil fields, adding that he thinks Israel has not yet concluded how to respond to Iran.

Israeli news website Ynet reported on Saturday that the top US general for the Middle East, Army General Michael Kurilla, is headed for Israel in the coming day. Israeli and US officials were not immediately reachable for comment.