Tunisian Opposition Parties Avoid Alliance with Ennahda

 Tunisia’s president Kais Saied takes the oath of office at the Assembly of People’s Representatives in Tunis, Tunisia October 23, 2019 (REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi)
Tunisia’s president Kais Saied takes the oath of office at the Assembly of People’s Representatives in Tunis, Tunisia October 23, 2019 (REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi)
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Tunisian Opposition Parties Avoid Alliance with Ennahda

 Tunisia’s president Kais Saied takes the oath of office at the Assembly of People’s Representatives in Tunis, Tunisia October 23, 2019 (REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi)
Tunisia’s president Kais Saied takes the oath of office at the Assembly of People’s Representatives in Tunis, Tunisia October 23, 2019 (REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi)

The Tunisian opposition - consisting mainly of a group of leftist parties, the Free Constitutional Party and the National Salvation Front, in addition to the Tunisian General Labor Union - continues to engage in a sharp confrontation with President Kais Saied’s political path, but without uniting on one front, or in a specific bloc.

Each of these parties – with different political and electoral considerations – have expressed serious concerns about supporting the moves of the National Salvation Front, which is backed by the leaders of the Ennahda movement.

In this context, Hisham Al-Ajbouni, a leader in the opposition Democratic Current Party, renewed his rejection of the July 25, 2021 path, and rejected rapprochement with the Front, despite the two parties’ engagement against the existing authority.

Al-Ajbouni cited several reasons for his party’s decision, including “the need for [Ennahda Movement] to recognize the grave mistakes it committed during the ten years in which it led the Tunisian political scene.”

He added that the movement should “remove the symbols of political failure,” whom he held responsible for the exceptional measures taken by the president at that time.

A large number of opposition parties “cannot forget the miserable failure in managing public affairs, and the many disagreements they witnessed during the rule of Ennahda movement,” according to the Tunisian politician.

Asked about the difficulties facing the coordination between the political and social parties opposing the president’s path, Jamal Larafaoui, a Tunisian political analyst, told Asharq Al-Awsat: “There are several disagreements that divide the ranks of the Tunisian opposition, most of them are ideological.”

He explained: “The leftist parties are not reassured by presence of the deputies of political Islam, and refuse any participation with them,” adding: “Similarly, the Free Constitutional Party, which is led by Abeer Moussa, opposes the existing authority, but at the same time calls for the removal of representatives of political Islam, led by Ennahda Movement, for they “threaten the democratic path and the civil state.”



52 Palestinians Including Children Killed in Israeli Airstrikes in Gaza

Palestinians inspect the destruction at a makeshift displacement camp following a reported incursion a day earlier by Israeli tanks in the area in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza strip on July 11, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Palestinians inspect the destruction at a makeshift displacement camp following a reported incursion a day earlier by Israeli tanks in the area in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza strip on July 11, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
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52 Palestinians Including Children Killed in Israeli Airstrikes in Gaza

Palestinians inspect the destruction at a makeshift displacement camp following a reported incursion a day earlier by Israeli tanks in the area in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza strip on July 11, 2025. (Photo by AFP)
Palestinians inspect the destruction at a makeshift displacement camp following a reported incursion a day earlier by Israeli tanks in the area in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza strip on July 11, 2025. (Photo by AFP)

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 28 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, including four children, hospital officials said Saturday. Also, 24 others were fatally shot on their way to aid distribution sites.

The children and two women were among at least 13 people who were killed in Deir al-Balah, in central Gaza, after Israeli airstrikes pounded the area starting late Friday, officials in Al-Aqsa Martyr's Hospital said. Another four people were killed in strikes near a fuel station, and 15 others died in Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza, according to Nasser Hospital.

The Israeli military said in a statement that over the past 48 hours, troops struck approximately 250 targets in the Gaza Strip, including militants, booby-trapped structures, weapons storage facilities, anti-tank missile launch posts, sniper posts, tunnels and additional Hamas infrastructure sites. The military did not immediately respond to The Associated Press' request for comment on the civilian deaths.

The Hamas-led group killed some 1,200 people in their Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and abducted 251. They still hold 50 hostages, less than half of them believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Israel’s offensive has killed over 57,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, which is under Gaza’s Hamas-run government, doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count. The UN and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.

US President Donald Trump has said that he is closing in on another ceasefire agreement that would see more hostages released and potentially wind down the war. But after two days of talks this week with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu there were no signs of a breakthrough.