Libyan Parties Agree to Continue Efforts to Unify Army, Form Unified Govt

Gatherers during Sunday's meeting in Tripoli. (UNSMIL)
Gatherers during Sunday's meeting in Tripoli. (UNSMIL)
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Libyan Parties Agree to Continue Efforts to Unify Army, Form Unified Govt

Gatherers during Sunday's meeting in Tripoli. (UNSMIL)
Gatherers during Sunday's meeting in Tripoli. (UNSMIL)

The 5+5 Joint Military Committee (JMC), in the presence of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for Libya, organized in Tripoli on Sunday a meeting between commanders of the military and security units in the western, eastern, and southern regions. 

The meeting was the largest of its kind in Libya in a decade.

In a statement on Monday, the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL) said the meeting aimed to follow up on the pledges made by participants at a similar meeting that was held in Tunis in mid-March on preparing to hold elections this year.

The mission said Sunday’s talks “focused on the role of the military and security institutions in providing a conducive environment for advancing the political process and holding free and fair elections during 2023.”

Head of the UN mission Abdoulaye Bathily called on all commanders in the western, eastern, and southern regions to consolidate peace in Libya.

The commanders of security and military units will play a significant role in agreeing on security arrangements and other major issues related to the elections, he added.

At the Tripoli meeting, the gatherers agreed that dialogue should be Libyan–Libyan and inside Libya.

They rejected foreign interference in Libyan affairs and expressed full commitment to the outcomes of the dialogues between the military and security commanders that were decided during their first and second meetings held respectively in Tunis and Tripoli. 

They rejected fighting and all forms of violence throughout the entirety of Libya’s territory, said the UN statement.

They committed to continuing work towards unifying the military institutions through the Chiefs of Staff; unifying the security institutions; and the rest of the state institutions. 

They also agreed to form a unified government for all Libyan state institutions and to increase efforts to address the challenges facing those displaced and those affected by fighting and wars. 

They agreed to complete national reconciliation and reparation efforts and committed to pursue elections and the need for the House of Representatives and the High Council of the State to complete the tasks entrusted with them. 

The gatherers agreed to hold the next meeting in Benghazi during the month of Ramadan.

Head of the interim Government of National Unity (GNU) Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah said stability in Tripoli provided an opportunity to advance local and international efforts to unify the military and security institution.

It is also an opportunity to make progress in preparations to hold elections that would end the transitional period, achieve peace and resolve divisions and war in the country, he added.

GNU Interior Minister Imad Trabelsi, who chaired Sunday’s meeting, told Bathily his ministry was ready to secure the elections.

The government of stability, headed by Fathi Bashagha, also welcomed the meeting. Its Defense Minister Ahmed Houma said Sunday’s talks follow up previous efforts that have been made over the past two years with the aim of unifying the military and security institutions.

He called on Libyans to support such steps that would eventually achieve real national reconciliation.

Should the military be unified, then it will guarantee the success of any elections, he stressed.



Israel Ups Bombing in Central Gaza, Strikes Kill 17 People

27 November 2024, Palestinian Territories, Nuseirat: Palestinians inspect the al-Qassam Mosque and surrounding buildings where Israeli army attacked and caused a big destruction in the Nuseirat Refugee Camp in central Gaza. Photo: Omar Ashtawy  Apaimages/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
27 November 2024, Palestinian Territories, Nuseirat: Palestinians inspect the al-Qassam Mosque and surrounding buildings where Israeli army attacked and caused a big destruction in the Nuseirat Refugee Camp in central Gaza. Photo: Omar Ashtawy Apaimages/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
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Israel Ups Bombing in Central Gaza, Strikes Kill 17 People

27 November 2024, Palestinian Territories, Nuseirat: Palestinians inspect the al-Qassam Mosque and surrounding buildings where Israeli army attacked and caused a big destruction in the Nuseirat Refugee Camp in central Gaza. Photo: Omar Ashtawy  Apaimages/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
27 November 2024, Palestinian Territories, Nuseirat: Palestinians inspect the al-Qassam Mosque and surrounding buildings where Israeli army attacked and caused a big destruction in the Nuseirat Refugee Camp in central Gaza. Photo: Omar Ashtawy Apaimages/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Israeli military strikes killed at least 17 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Thursday, medics said, as forces stepped up bombardments on central areas and pushed tanks deeper in the north and south of the enclave.
Six people were killed in two separate air strikes on a house and near the hospital of Kamal Adwan in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, while four others were killed when an Israeli strike hit a motorcycle in Khan Younis in the south, Reuters said.
In Nuseirat, one of the Gaza Strip's eight historic refugee camps, Israeli planes carried out several airstrikes destroying a multi-floor building and hitting roads outside mosques. At least seven people were killed in some of those strikes, health officials said.
Medics said at least two people, a woman and a child, were killed in tank shelling that hit western areas of Nuseirat, while an airstrike killed five others in a house nearby.
In Rafah, near the border with Egypt, tanks pushed deeper into the northern-west area of the city, residents said.
There has been no Israeli comment on the fighting in Gaza overnight and early Thursday.
Israel's 13-month campaign in Gaza, with the avowed intent of eradicating Hamas militants, has killed nearly 44,200 people and displaced nearly all the enclave's population at least once, according to Gaza officials. Vast swathes of the territory are in ruins.
The war was launched in response to an attack by Hamas-led fighters who killed around 1,200 people and captured more than 250 hostages in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has said.
Months of attempts to negotiate a ceasefire have yielded scant progress, and negotiations are now on hold. Mediator Qatar has suspended its efforts until the sides are prepared to make concessions.
A ceasefire in the parallel conflict between Israel and Hamas' Lebanese ally Hezbollah took effect before dawn on Wednesday, bringing a halt to hostilities that had escalated sharply in recent months and overshadowed the conflict in Gaza.
Announcing the Lebanon accord on Tuesday, US President Joe Biden said he would now renew his push for an elusive agreement in Gaza, urging Israel and Hamas to seize the moment.