عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

ICC Hints Foreign Fighters in Libya Could Face Prosecution

Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Fatou Bensouda. Reuters
Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Fatou Bensouda. Reuters
TT
TT

ICC Hints Foreign Fighters in Libya Could Face Prosecution

Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Fatou Bensouda. Reuters
Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Fatou Bensouda. Reuters

Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) Fatou Bensouda told the UN Security Council on Monday that mercenaries and armed groups involved in the Libyan conflict could face prosecution.

“I must emphasize that crimes committed by mercenaries and foreign fighters on Libyan territory may fall under the jurisdiction of the Court, no matter the nationality of the persons involved,” she said.

In her last briefing to the Council on the Libya situation before the end of her mandate on June 15, Bensouda said her Office has received concerning information about the activities of mercenaries and foreign fighters in Libya.

“This information is consistent with the findings of UNSMIL Panel of Experts reports. The Office fully supports the call for these armed groups and individuals to leave Libya without delay,” she said.

The UN estimates that there are at least 20,000 foreign fighters and mercenaries in Libya.

Bensouda also encouraged the Council and all UN member states to once again convey a clear and firm message to leaders and commanders, be they military or civilian, and all parties and armed groups involved in the Libya conflict that the rules of international humanitarian law must be respected and that those who defy such rules will be held individually responsible.

Also, the Chief Prosecutor said her office collected credible information and evidence on serious crimes allegedly committed in official and unofficial detention facilities in Libya.

“Further credible reports detail the summary conviction and sentencing of civilians to long prison sentences including handing of death penalty by Military Courts in eastern Libya following secret trials devoid of fair trial guarantees,” she said.

UNSMIL says more than 8,850 individuals are arbitrarily detained at 28 official prisons in Libya in Judicial Police custody with an estimated 60 to 70 percent in pre-trial detention. An additional 10,000 individuals are detained in other detention facilities run by militia and armed groups including about 480 women and 63 juveniles and children.

Most Viewed

 
 
Arab World

Reconstruction Delays in South Lebanon Fuel Anger against the State, Hezbollah

Lebanese soldiers stand in front of a building targeted by an Israeli airstrike in the village of Deir Kifa in south Lebanon last month. (AFP file)
Lebanese soldiers stand in front of a building targeted by an Israeli airstrike in the village of Deir Kifa in south Lebanon last month. (AFP file)
TT
TT

Reconstruction Delays in South Lebanon Fuel Anger against the State, Hezbollah

Lebanese soldiers stand in front of a building targeted by an Israeli airstrike in the village of Deir Kifa in south Lebanon last month. (AFP file)
Lebanese soldiers stand in front of a building targeted by an Israeli airstrike in the village of Deir Kifa in south Lebanon last month. (AFP file)

Mounting protests across frontline villages in south Lebanon are exposing deep frustration over stalled reconstruction efforts and long-delayed compensation for war damage, delays that have pushed many families to abandon their homes and rebuild their lives elsewhere.

In Taybeh, a resident recently blocked the road outside his damaged house, which had been struck by an Israeli raid. Earlier, villagers in Deir Siryan blocked a main road and burned tires to protest the lack of compensation for destroyed vehicles. In Houla, a local man appeared in a video claiming losses exceeding six million dollars and demanding equal treatment for border communities compared with other regions that previously received compensation.

These demonstrations come more than two years after border residents were first displaced by recurring Israeli strikes during its conflict with Hezbollah that turned into a full blown war in October 2024. Many residents continue to live away from their homes, with no clear timetable for reconstruction support.

The almost daily Israeli bombardments since a November 2024 ceasefire have increased the scale of destruction, intensifying the sense of abandonment.

For many villagers, the central question is not which authority - Hezbollah or the Lebanese state - should assume responsibility. Instead, they want whichever side can deliver funds that would allow them to rebuild shattered neighborhoods. Their protests increasingly target both the government and Hezbollah, which has a strong presence in the South.

Tarek Mazraani, coordinator of the Coalition of Southern Border Villages, said these “relatively modest” protests will continue as residents seek to make their voices heard.

He told Asharq Al-Awsat that demands are directed at the state and political parties alike: “People don’t care who pays. What matters is that compensation arrives.”

While the state remains largely absent from reconstruction efforts, Mazraani noted slight improvements in services such as electricity and water.

He added that protesters are also calling for urgent support for displaced families. Many have lost businesses, savings, and all sources of income, leaving them unable to cover rent, medical expenses, or basic living costs in their temporary housing.

Although residents recognize that reconstruction funding may be difficult to secure under current conditions, Mazraani said they still expect the government and influential parties to help ease their burden.

Since the coalition’s founding six months ago, he said, its advocacy has had an impact, “but we have yet to see any concrete decisions on the ground.”

Last month, the Development and Liberation Bloc of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, hosted a coordination meeting in Msayleh village to outline a reconstruction strategy with government and civil society representatives.

Yet southerners still await parliamentary approval of a $250 million World Bank loan to rebuild damaged infrastructure. The relevant legislation stalled because several political blocs are boycotting parliamentary sessions over electoral law disputes.

Political analyst Ali Al-Amin said the growing protests are an unsurprising reaction from communities that feel “virtually abandoned.”

He argued that residents blame Hezbollah for policies they believe have closed off political options for a national solution, noting that reconstruction cannot proceed without addressing the issue of weapons outside state control.

Israel’s continued strikes, alongside talk of imposing a buffer zone in the South under direct or indirect Israeli oversight, further obstruct recovery.

Under such conditions, “reconstruction is simply not possible now,” added Al-Amin.

Arab World

Hamas Says Will Give Up Arms to a Palestinian Authority ‘If Occupation Ends’

A Palestinian gunman stands guard as Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters transport a white body bag believed to carry the remains of an Israeli hostage in the town of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on December 3, 2025. (AFP)
A Palestinian gunman stands guard as Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters transport a white body bag believed to carry the remains of an Israeli hostage in the town of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on December 3, 2025. (AFP)
TT
TT

Hamas Says Will Give Up Arms to a Palestinian Authority ‘If Occupation Ends’

A Palestinian gunman stands guard as Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters transport a white body bag believed to carry the remains of an Israeli hostage in the town of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on December 3, 2025. (AFP)
A Palestinian gunman stands guard as Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters transport a white body bag believed to carry the remains of an Israeli hostage in the town of Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip on December 3, 2025. (AFP)

Hamas said Saturday it was ready to hand over its weapons in the Gaza Strip to a Palestinian authority governing the territory on the condition that the Israeli army’s occupation ends.

“Our weapons are linked to the existence of the occupation and the aggression,” Hamas chief negotiator and its Gaza chief Khalil al-Hayya said in a statement, adding: “If the occupation ends, these weapons will be placed under the authority of the state.”

Asked by AFP, al-Hayya’s bureau said he was referring to a sovereign and independent Palestinian state.

“We accept the deployment of UN forces as a separation force, tasked with monitoring the borders and ensuring compliance with the ceasefire in Gaza,” al-Hayya added, signaling his group’s rejection of the deployment of an international force in the Strip whose mission would be to disarm it.

Arab World

Hezbollah Supporters Dismayed as Leaked Videos Show Assad Mocking Party

A tattered Syrian flag and Assad poster in Aleppo on Dec. 5, 2024. (AFP via Getty Images)
A tattered Syrian flag and Assad poster in Aleppo on Dec. 5, 2024. (AFP via Getty Images)
TT
TT

Hezbollah Supporters Dismayed as Leaked Videos Show Assad Mocking Party

A tattered Syrian flag and Assad poster in Aleppo on Dec. 5, 2024. (AFP via Getty Images)
A tattered Syrian flag and Assad poster in Aleppo on Dec. 5, 2024. (AFP via Getty Images)

Hezbollah supporters in Lebanon expressed their dismay in the leaked videos of ousted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his late media advisor Luna al-Shibl in which they mock supporters of the regime, including the Iran-backed party, during the 14-year Syrian civil war.

Al Arabiya released the videos that showed Assad driving a vehicle in Damascus, with Shibl in the passenger seat. A third person was filming from the back seat. The videos are undated but suspected to date back to 2018 after opposition fighters were forced out of Ghouta near Damascus.

As they drive, the trio encounter gunmen, whom Assad said were Lebanese, meaning Hezbollah fighters. Shibl then started to discuss the party and its performance during the war.

Hezbollah had sent its fighters to Syria to prop up the regime during the conflict. Its intervention helped prolong the war. Russia’s eventual intervention helped tip the balance in the regime’s favor.

In the videos, Shibl said that the “Syrian army has learned and now has experience that it can share with other armies.”

“Hezbollah in the end could not back up its claims and we never heard from it,” she added.

Commenting to Asharq Al-Awsat about the videos, Hezbollah supporters in Lebanon expressed their disappointment, saying they were a “mockery of all the sacrifices and denial of the facts on the ground.”

One supporter said Assad’s silence over Shibl’s comments “is a sign of his agreement and another insult” to the party.

Assad has no loyalty and does not appreciate the sacrifices, he stressed.

Another supporter dismissed Shibl, telling Asharq Al-Awsat that she is “delusional”, a “liar” and “flatterer”.

“She and Assad both know that were it not for Hezbollah, the opposition would have captured Damascus in winter 2012,” he remarked.

Hezbollah supporters often trade stories about their fighting in Syria. The party has also released footage of its operations in Syria, most notably in the regions of Qusayr and al-Qalamoun in spring 2013, and Aleppo, al-Zabadani and Ghouta in 2016. Those operations have become part of the party’s “lore”.

One Hezbollah fighters told Asharq Al-Awsat that the regime army “did not know how to stop attacks in southern Damascus in 2012. (...) The party had to step in and draft plans.”

The offensive launched by the opposition in Daraa at the time “was repelled by the party alone and some Syrian fighters,” he went on to say.

In eastern Ghouta, he recalled how the regime forces were retreating, “leaving Hezbollah members to fight alone for two hours” before regrouping.

“Shibl should have spoken about who devised the plans to capture al-Qalamoun and al-Zabadani and who fought there” before she doubted the party’s capabilities, the fighter told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The disappointment in the videos also played out on social media, with supporters recalling that before they were allied during the war, Hezbollah and the regime had a rivalry that dates back to Lebanon’s 1975-90 civil war.

The rivalry was patched up because the regime needed the party, said one social media user.

Another said the videos were a message to those who still defended Assad.

Ties between Hezbollah and Assad were strained before his ouster in December 2024. Some Hezbollah leaders accused Assad of abandoning the party during the “support war” it had launched from Lebanon in solidarity with Hamas in Gaza in October 2023.

It has since been revealed that Assad barred Hezbollah from using Syrian territory to launch rockets at Israel during the “support war”. The regime also restricted the delivery of weapons to the party through Syria during the conflict.