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Libyan House of Representatives Rejects UN Proposal to Form High-Level Panel for Elections

The Libyan House of Representatives in session (File photo: House of Representatives)
The Libyan House of Representatives in session (File photo: House of Representatives)
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Libyan House of Representatives Rejects UN Proposal to Form High-Level Panel for Elections

The Libyan House of Representatives in session (File photo: House of Representatives)
The Libyan House of Representatives in session (File photo: House of Representatives)

The Libyan House of Representatives and the stability government, headed by Fathi Bashagha, rejected the initiative put forward by the Sec-Gen's Special Representative for Libya and head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) Abdoulaye Bathily to launch a High-Level Panel for Elections.

Bathily told a UN Security Council Briefing on Libya that the proposed "high-level steering panel" would include representatives of political institutions, political and tribal leaders, civil society organizations, security officials, and others.

He addressed the House of Representatives adopting the amendment to the 2011 Constitutional Declaration, saying it does not "address key contentious issues, such as the eligibility criteria for presidential candidates, and fails to stipulate a clear road map and timelines to realize inclusive elections in 2023."

However, the House of Representatives rejected the proposal, saying what was included in Bathily's briefing contained "fallacies" regarding the failure of the House of Representatives and the state to approve the constitutional law.

It also condemned Bathily's disregard of the disruption of the State Council session by the same force majeure that halted the elections, adding that the Envoy did not refer to the failure of the rest of the institutions entrusted with the success of any electoral and political process.

The council indicated that the obstruction and disruption of reconciliation, corruption and squandering of public money disrupted the electoral process in the country.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Minister of Bashagha's government, Hafez Kaddour, considered that disregarding official political bodies does not help reach successful and satisfactory solutions, placing the mission in a non-neutral position.

Members of the High Council of State said they would hold a session Thursday in Tripoli to respond to Bathily's proposal amid a division over it.

Furthermore, Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh did not comment on the UN briefing session, saying the government is determined to overcome the difficult transitional period.

Dbeibeh reiterated that this stage requires focusing on capacity-building, establishing peace, launching development projects to overcome division, war, and weakening the state and its institutions.

Later, Chargé d'Affairs at the US Embassy to Libya, Leslie Ordeman, discussed with the Special Representative of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission to Libya, Wahida Ayari, joint support to establish a path toward elections in Libya.

The US diplomat appreciated "the AU's leading role advancing national reconciliation in Libya."

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Arab World

Israeli Airstrike Kills at Least 10 Near Gaza School as Ceasefire Strains

Palestinians react following an Israeli strike outside a school sheltering displaced people, according to medics, at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, April 6, 2026. (Reuters)
Palestinians react following an Israeli strike outside a school sheltering displaced people, according to medics, at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, April 6, 2026. (Reuters)
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Israeli Airstrike Kills at Least 10 Near Gaza School as Ceasefire Strains

Palestinians react following an Israeli strike outside a school sheltering displaced people, according to medics, at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, April 6, 2026. (Reuters)
Palestinians react following an Israeli strike outside a school sheltering displaced people, according to medics, at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, April 6, 2026. (Reuters)

An Israeli airstrike killed at least 10 people and wounded several others outside a school housing displaced Palestinians on Monday, health officials said, in the latest violence overshadowing the fragile US-backed Gaza ceasefire deal.

Before the strikes, some Palestinians had clashed with members of an Israeli-backed militia, who they said attacked the school in an attempt to abduct some people, medics and residents said.

In the midst of the clashes, east of the Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, Israeli drones fired two missiles into the area, killing at least 10 people and wounding several others, they added.

It was not immediately ‌clear how many ‌civilians had been killed in the strikes, which hit ‌in ⁠a closely packed neighborhood ⁠of mostly displaced Palestinians.

Ahmed al-Maghazi, an eyewitness, said their area was attacked by members of the Israeli-backed militia who operate in the territory adjacent to where the Israeli forces are in control, before they opened fire.

"The residents tried to defend their homes, but the occupation forces targeted them directly," he told Reuters.

Earlier on Monday, an Israeli airstrike killed one Palestinian and wounded ⁠a child as they traveled on a motorbike in ‌Gaza City, medics said.

Medics said that ‌Israeli forces killed another Palestinian when they opened fire on a vehicle in central ‌Gaza, taking Monday's death toll to at least 12.

The Israeli military ‌had no immediate comment on any of the three incidents on Monday.

The Palestinian group Hamas, which has run Gaza since 2007, and Israel have traded blame over violations of the ceasefire that kicked off in October.

The Gaza health ministry says ‌Israeli fire has killed at least 700 people since the ceasefire began. Israel says four soldiers have been killed ⁠by militants ⁠in Gaza over the same period.

The violence comes as Hamas has continued to resist relinquishing its weapons, a major obstacle in talks to implement the next steps in US President Donald Trump’s proposed peace plan for Gaza.

On Sunday, Hamas' armed wing said that discussing the group's disarmament before Israel fully implements the first phase of Trump's Gaza plan was an attempt to continue what it called a genocide against the Palestinian people.

Hamas' October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel's ensuing two-year campaign killed more than 72,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to Gazan health authorities.

The offensive spread famine, reduced most of the strip to rubble, and displaced the majority of its population.

Arab World

SDRPY Advances Construction of Model Secondary School in Yemen's Seiyun

These initiatives aim to strengthen technical and higher education and better align graduates’ skills with labor market needs - sPA
These initiatives aim to strengthen technical and higher education and better align graduates’ skills with labor market needs - sPA
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SDRPY Advances Construction of Model Secondary School in Yemen's Seiyun

These initiatives aim to strengthen technical and higher education and better align graduates’ skills with labor market needs - sPA
These initiatives aim to strengthen technical and higher education and better align graduates’ skills with labor market needs - sPA

Work is progressing on the construction and outfitting of Al-Sabban model secondary school in Yemen’s Seiyun, a project implemented by the Saudi Development and Reconstruction Program for Yemen (SDRPY) as part of its ongoing efforts to support the education sector and enhance learning environments across Yemen’s governorates.

The school features modern classrooms, laboratories, and supporting facilities designed to meet the demands of contemporary education and provide a comprehensive and stimulating environment for students.

It is one of four model schools in Hadramout and part of more than 30 similar projects across various Yemeni governorates, according to SPA.

The SDRPY has also implemented a range of initiatives to support education in Hadhramout, including renewable energy projects that expand access to learning in Mukalla, Seiyun, and Doan and Wadi Al-Ain districts.

In January, the program announced several key projects, including the establishment of computer science and information technology colleges at Hadhramout and Seiyun universities, as well as the rehabilitation and development of the Agricultural Veterinary Technical Institute.

These initiatives aim to strengthen technical and higher education and better align graduates’ skills with labor market needs.

Collectively, these projects are expected to expand access to education, improve the quality of learning environments, and enhance the efficiency of educational infrastructure in Hadramout Governorate. They will also help empower students and develop a skilled workforce, supporting long-term sustainable development.

Arab World

Israeli Strike Kills Lebanese Forces Official, Widening Divisions Over Hezbollah

The exterior of an apartment building hit by an Israeli strike amid escalating hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, as the US-Israel conflict with Iran continues, in Ain Saadeh, Lebanon, April 6, 2026. (Reuters)
The exterior of an apartment building hit by an Israeli strike amid escalating hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, as the US-Israel conflict with Iran continues, in Ain Saadeh, Lebanon, April 6, 2026. (Reuters)
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Israeli Strike Kills Lebanese Forces Official, Widening Divisions Over Hezbollah

The exterior of an apartment building hit by an Israeli strike amid escalating hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, as the US-Israel conflict with Iran continues, in Ain Saadeh, Lebanon, April 6, 2026. (Reuters)
The exterior of an apartment building hit by an Israeli strike amid escalating hostilities between Israel and Hezbollah, as the US-Israel conflict with Iran continues, in Ain Saadeh, Lebanon, April 6, 2026. (Reuters)

An Israeli strike on an apartment east of Beirut late on Sunday killed a local official from the Lebanese Forces, sharpening internal divides over Hezbollah as Israel's strikes expand to new parts of the country.

The war raging in Lebanon over the past month has deepened fractures between supporters of Hezbollah and those who blame the Iran-backed group for igniting a new conflict with Israel just 15 months after the last one.

On Sunday, an Israeli strike hit an apartment in Ain Saadeh, a predominantly Christian town in the hills east of Beirut, killing a man and two women, Lebanon's health ministry said. Ain Saadeh's mayor said the victims were one floor below the targeted apartment.

The ‌Lebanese Forces, ‌a fiercely anti-Hezbollah party, identified two of the dead as Pierre ‌Moawad, ⁠a local party official, ⁠and his wife Flavia.

"We are paying a heavy price for a war into which we have been dragged by the lawless organization Hezbollah," Lebanese Forces parliamentarian Razi El Hage told Lebanese broadcaster MTV.

Israel's full-scale air and ground campaign, launched in retaliation for Hezbollah firing into Israel on March 2 in solidarity with Iran, has killed more than 1,460 people, according to Lebanese authorities.

ISRAEL REVIEWING STRIKE

The air campaign and Israel's orders for people to leave swathes of Lebanon's south, east, and Beirut's southern suburbs have displaced more ⁠than a million people, most of them from the Shiite ‌community from which Hezbollah draws its support.

Some residents and local ‌officials in predominantly Christian areas have expressed concern that displaced communities are harboring fighters that could be targeted by Israel, ‌with local authorities vetting those seeking rented accommodation.

Nadim Gemayel, of the Kataeb party, told ‌Reuters last month he was worried Israel was deliberately pushing Shiites into other parts of Lebanon to create conflict with other communities.

There was no Israeli military order for people to flee before Sunday's strike. Residents said no displaced people were living in the targeted apartment or surrounding buildings.

"I've been in my house for 20 ‌years, I've never even seen this apartment lit. There's no one in it," Antoine Aalam, a 70-year-old man who lives across from the ⁠targeted apartment, told Reuters on ⁠Monday.

The Israeli military told Reuters it had struck a "terror target east of Beirut" without providing further details.

"Reports that several uninvolved individuals were harmed as a result of the strike are being reviewed," it said.

CIVIL PEACE IS 'RED LINE'

Although the last war with Hezbollah ended with a ceasefire in 2024, Israel continued its strikes on Lebanon and kept troops stationed in the country's south. Lebanon's calls for Israel to negotiate a new truce have fallen on deaf ears.

Sunday's strike came just hours after Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, in his first televised address since the war erupted, said the country's "primary concern is preserving civil peace, which is a red line."

A separate Israeli strike on Beirut's southern suburbs killed five people, including a teenage girl and two Sudanese migrant workers, and another on a car in southern Lebanon killed a man and his wife, and injured their two children.