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Sarraj Orders Reorganization of Special Deterrence Force Away From Bashagha

The head of the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) Fayez Al-Sarraj talking to GNA Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha in Tripoli | Getty Images
The head of the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) Fayez Al-Sarraj talking to GNA Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha in Tripoli | Getty Images
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Sarraj Orders Reorganization of Special Deterrence Force Away From Bashagha

The head of the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) Fayez Al-Sarraj talking to GNA Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha in Tripoli | Getty Images
The head of the Libyan Government of National Accord (GNA) Fayez Al-Sarraj talking to GNA Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha in Tripoli | Getty Images

Conflict within Libya’s Tripoli-based Government of National Accord (GNA) has taken a new course after its head, Fayez Al-Sarraj, ordered the reorganization of the Special Deterrence Force away from the Interior Ministry.

The move removes the Force’s subordination to Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha.

On another note, the head of Egypt's General Intelligence Service (GIS) Abbas Kamel conveyed during a surprise visit to the Libyan city of Benghazi on Saturday a message of support from President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi to the Libyan people on various military and political levels.

During his visit, Kamel met with the commander of the Libyan National Army (LNA) Khalifa Haftar and the head of the Libyan House of Representatives Aguila Saleh.

A number of issues of concern were discussed. This came within the framework of the Egyptian role in support of stabilizing the situation in Libya and preserving its capabilities and gains, a GIS statement said.

In Kamel and Haftar’s meeting, the statement said, emphasis was placed on the Egyptian efforts and moves in support of the outcomes of the 5+5 Military Commission meetings, which resulted in delaying the ceasefire and taking a number of measures that have contributed to stabilizing the military and security situation throughout Libya.

The 5+5 Joint Military Commission, which brings together five military officials from the eastern and western camps in the Libyan conflict, is one of the three tracks of the settlement process that emerged during the Berlin Conference on Libya in mid-January. It was subsequently adopted by the UN Security Council.

Moreover, Kamel met with Saleh along with a number of MPs, where he emphasized that Egypt “supports all tracks of a comprehensive settlement of the Libyan crisis” in coordination with the United Nations (UN) and the international community.

The head of Egypt’s GIS also discussed the latest developments in the political situation, as well as ways to advance and develop Egyptian-Libyan relations at all levels during the coming period, the statement noted.

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Israel Orders Evacuation of Area Designated as Humanitarian Zone in Gaza

A picture taken in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during Israeli army operations in areas east of Khan Younis city on July 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
A picture taken in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during Israeli army operations in areas east of Khan Younis city on July 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
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Israel Orders Evacuation of Area Designated as Humanitarian Zone in Gaza

A picture taken in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during Israeli army operations in areas east of Khan Younis city on July 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)
A picture taken in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip shows smoke billowing during Israeli army operations in areas east of Khan Younis city on July 26, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (AFP)

Israel’s military ordered the evacuation Saturday of a crowded part of Gaza designated as a humanitarian zone, saying it is planning an operation against Hamas militants in Khan Younis, including parts of Muwasi, a makeshift tent camp where thousands are seeking refuge.

The order comes in response to rocket fire that Israel says originates from the area. It's the second evacuation issued in a week in an area designated for Palestinians fleeing other parts of Gaza. Many Palestinians have been uprooted multiple times in search of safety during Israel's punishing air and ground campaign.

On Monday, after the evacuation order, multiple Israeli airstrikes hit around Khan Younis, killing at least 70 people, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, citing figures from Nasser Hospital.

The area is part of a 60-square-kilometer (roughly 20-square-mile) “humanitarian zone” to which Israel has been telling Palestinians to flee to throughout the war. Much of the area is blanketed with tent camps that lack sanitation and medical facilities and have limited access to aid, United Nations and humanitarian groups say. About 1.8 million Palestinians are sheltering there, according to Israel's estimates. That's more than half Gaza’s pre-war population of 2.3 million.

The war in Gaza has killed more than 39,100 Palestinians, according to the territory’s Health Ministry, which doesn’t distinguish between combatants and civilians in its count. The UN estimated in February that some 17,000 children in the territory are now unaccompanied, and the number is likely to have grown since.

The war began with an assault by Hamas fighters on southern Israel on Oct. 7 that killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and took about 250 hostages. About 115 are still in Gaza, about a third of them believed to be dead, according to Israeli authorities.