Libya's National Stability Gov Prepares for Int’l Conference for Derna Reconstruction

Committee of the National Stability during its visit to Derna to prepare for the international conference (National Stability government)
Committee of the National Stability during its visit to Derna to prepare for the international conference (National Stability government)
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Libya's National Stability Gov Prepares for Int’l Conference for Derna Reconstruction

Committee of the National Stability during its visit to Derna to prepare for the international conference (National Stability government)
Committee of the National Stability during its visit to Derna to prepare for the international conference (National Stability government)

Libya's Government of National Stability, headed by Osama Hammad, announced that it would move forward and unilaterally establish an international conference for the reconstruction of Derna after the devastating Hurricane Daniel.

The Hammad government, which does not enjoy international recognition, said that the preparatory committee visited Derna on Friday.

The committee toured the venue for the conference and saw the preparations and progress made.

It thanked the Libyan National Army (LNA), led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, and the head and members of the Military Security Chamber for providing all the facilities that would ensure the conference's success.

The conference is scheduled for Nov 1 and 2 in Derna and Benghazi, east of the country.

Meanwhile, local media reported the arrival of Turkish aid to Tobruk port, carrying humanitarian relief after the hurricane affected several areas.

Director of the Emergency Medicine and Support Center Mohammad Kaplan announced in a brief statement the recovery of 38 bodies of victims who were missing after the storm.

Furthermore, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan informed the head of the interim unity government, Abdulhamid Dbeibeh, of his country's readiness to contribute to the reconstruction of Derna and neighboring towns.

Also, Salah Badi, one of the most prominent leaders of the armed militias in Misrata, said foreign forces have 48 hours to leave the Air College in Misrata.

However, local media quoted sources as saying that foreign military officials at the Misrata military air base refused to meet Badi. They informed Dbeibeh that whoever "crosses the red line" towards the base would be a legitimate target.

In 2018, the US, UK, and France imposed sanctions on Badi, accusing him of working to undermine the political solution in Libya and being involved in the clashes that took place in Tripoli that year, killing at least 120, mostly civilians.



Human Rights Watch Says Israel's Deprivation of Water in Gaza is Act of Genocide

Displaced Palestinians line up to fill their containers with water in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on September 14, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Hamas militant group. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)
Displaced Palestinians line up to fill their containers with water in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on September 14, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Hamas militant group. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)
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Human Rights Watch Says Israel's Deprivation of Water in Gaza is Act of Genocide

Displaced Palestinians line up to fill their containers with water in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on September 14, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Hamas militant group. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)
Displaced Palestinians line up to fill their containers with water in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on September 14, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Hamas militant group. (Photo by Bashar TALEB / AFP)

Human Rights Watch said on Thursday that Israel has killed thousands of Palestinians in Gaza by denying them clean water which it says legally amounts to acts of genocide and extermination.
"This policy, inflicted as part of a mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza, means Israeli authorities have committed the crime against humanity of extermination, which is ongoing. This policy also amounts to an 'act of genocide' under the Genocide Convention of 1948," Human Rights Watch said in its report.
Israel has repeatedly rejected any accusation of genocide, saying it has respected international law and has a right to defend itself after the cross-border Hamas-led attack from Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023 that precipitated the war, reported Reuters.
In a statement on X, Israel's foreign ministry wrote: "The truth is the complete opposite of HRW's lies."
"Since the beginning of the war, Israel has facilitated the continuous flow of water and humanitarian aid into Gaza, despite operating under constant attacks of Hamas terror organization," the statement said.
Although the report described the deprivation of water as an act of genocide, it noted that proving the crime of genocide against Israeli officials would also require establishing their intent. It cited statements by some senior Israeli officials which it said suggested they "wish to destroy Palestinians" which means the deprivation of water "may amount to the crime of genocide".
"What we have found is that the Israeli government is intentionally killing Palestinians in Gaza by denying them the water that they need to survive," Lama Fakih, Human Rights Watch Middle East director told a press conference.
In its response, Israel said it had ensured water infrastructure remained operational. It said international partners had sent water tankers through Israeli crossings, including last week, and ⁠Israel had facilitated the entry of more than 1.2 million tons of humanitarian supplies into Gaza.
Human Rights Watch is the second major rights group in a month to use the word genocide to describe the actions of Israel in Gaza, after Amnesty International issued a report that concluded Israel was committing genocide.
Both reports came just weeks after the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense chief for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity. They deny the allegations.
The 184-page Human Rights Watch report said the Israeli government stopped water being piped into Gaza and cut off electricity and restricted fuel which meant Gaza's own water and sanitation facilities could not be used.
As a result, Palestinians in Gaza had access to only a few liters of water a day in many areas, far below the 15-liter-threshold for survival, the group said. Israel launched its air and ground war in Gaza after Hamas-led fighters attacked Israeli communities across the border 14 months ago, killing 1,200 people and taking over 250 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel's campaign has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians, displaced most of the 2.3 million population and reduced much of the coastal enclave to ruins.