Egypt, Libya Aim to End Political Stalemate

The head of the Government of National Unity (GNU), Abdulhamid Dbeibeh, with the Egyptian delegation (GNU)
The head of the Government of National Unity (GNU), Abdulhamid Dbeibeh, with the Egyptian delegation (GNU)
TT

Egypt, Libya Aim to End Political Stalemate

The head of the Government of National Unity (GNU), Abdulhamid Dbeibeh, with the Egyptian delegation (GNU)
The head of the Government of National Unity (GNU), Abdulhamid Dbeibeh, with the Egyptian delegation (GNU)

An Egyptian high-level intelligence delegation arrived in Libya to discuss cooperation with the Government of National Unity (GNU), chaired by Abdulhamid Dbeibeh.

Dbeibeh's media office announced Thursday that he had met a high-ranking Egyptian intelligence delegation and officials as part of a visit to end the political stalemate.

Libyan political analyst Idris Ahmeed described the visit as "important" and a shift in security cooperation between Cairo and Tripoli.

The two parties discussed the results of the Egyptian-Libyan joint committee, launched two years ago, during which Dbeibeh met with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi.

After the meeting, Dbeibeh discussed in separate meetings with government representatives launching projects implemented by the consortium of Egyptian companies after assigning construction sites, completing employment procedures, and equipping their headquarters.

The consortium comprises Orascom Construction, Pioneers of Modern Engineering, and Hassan Allam Construction.

The two parties also discussed the steps taken by Egypt to facilitate visas for Libyan citizens.

Earlier, Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry discussed the recent development with his Libyan counterpart, Naglaa al-Mangoush, during the Arab ministerial preparatory meeting for the Arab League Summit.

Observers said the meeting aimed to end the stalemate in the relations between Egypt and Libya after the September 2022 incident when Shoukry withdrew from the inaugural session of the Arab League meeting at the level of foreign ministers in protest against Mangoush, who was presiding it.

Meanwhile, Libyan Minister of Transportation Mohamed Salem al-Shahoubi reviewed air transport between the two countries with the Deputy Head of the Egyptian Civil Aviation Authority, Essam Kishk.

Shahoubi praised the "satisfactory" rate and number of flights between Egypt and Libya after they stopped entirely in 2021.

Furthermore, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Libya and Head of UNSMIL, Abdoulaye Bathily, received a GNU liaison team headed by the Minister of State for Communication and Political Affairs, Walid al-Lafi.

The liaison team presented a cooperation proposal in support of the electoral process.

The meeting addressed supporting the cooperation between the government and UNSMIL to implement several programs that contribute to the success of the expected electoral process.

Bathily and the UNMSIL team were briefed on the efforts of the GNU Ministerial Committee to Support Elections and the various activities implemented in coordination with the High National Elections Commission.

Lafi also touched on the government's efforts to establish the General Authority for Monitoring Media Content to provide a safer media environment for elections.



Netanyahu Warns Yemen’s Houthis of ‘Heavy Price’

Smoke rises from a power station following Israeli airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
Smoke rises from a power station following Israeli airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
TT

Netanyahu Warns Yemen’s Houthis of ‘Heavy Price’

Smoke rises from a power station following Israeli airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
Smoke rises from a power station following Israeli airstrikes in Sanaa, Yemen December 19, 2024. REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned the Houthi militias on Thursday that they “will pay a heavy price” after Israel launched strikes in Yemen in response to a missile attack from the armed group.

The Iran-backed Houthis - who have launched attacks on international shipping near Yemen since November 2023, in solidarity with Palestinians in Israel's war with Hamas - said they had attacked Tel Aviv overnight, launching two ballistic missiles and hitting "precise military targets.”

As Israeli jets were in the air, the Israeli military said it intercepted a missile headed towards central Israel which destroyed a school building in Ramat Efal in the western part of Tel Aviv with what a military spokesperson described as falling shrapnel.
“After Hamas, Hezbollah and the Assad regime in Syria, the Houthis are nearly the last remaining arm of Iran's axis of evil. They are learning and they will learn the hard way, that whoever harms Israel - pays a very heavy price for it,” Netanyahu warned.
Hamas and the Lebanese Hezbollah are also allies of Iran.
The Israeli attack in Yemen, involving 14 fighter jets and other aircraft, came in two waves, with a first series of strikes on the ports of Salif and Ras Issa and a second series hitting the capital Sanaa, military spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani told reporters.
"We made extensive preparations for these operations with efforts to refine our intelligence and to optimize the strikes," he said.

Earlier on Thursday, Defense Minister Israel Katz vowed that Israel’s “long hand” will reach the Houthi leaders.