BRUSSELS: EU foreign ministers agreed Monday to a naval operation to enforce an arms embargo on war-torn Libya, overcoming objections from countries who feared it may encourage new migrant flows.
The mission will be authorized to intervene to stop arms shipments, EU diplomatic chief Josep Borrell said, insisting the vessels would not be “having a promenade” in the Mediterranean.
The EU hopes to have the operation, focused on the eastern part of the Libyan coast, up and running by the end of March, Borrell said, though many details — including the rules of engagement for naval units — are yet to be worked out.
The conflict in the oil-rich but turbulent North African state was on the agenda for EU ministers meeting in Brussels, but Borrell had played down hopes of an agreement over objections from Austria and Hungary.
Making the arms embargo work is seen as crucial to stabilising the Libyan conflict.
Military commanders will propose many of the operational details, including the number of ships and the exact geographical scope, for EU foreign ministers to approve at their next meeting on March 23.
The EU hopes the new mission — which replaces Operation Sophia, set up in 2015 to fight people smuggling across the Mediterranean at the height of Europe’s migrant crisis — will be up and running by the end of March.
Austria had led opposition to reviving Operation Sophia with ships to enforce the embargo, fearing it could reactivate a rescue fleet that would end up ferrying migrants across the Mediterranean to Europe.
Hungary, whose right-wing populist government has taken a tough anti-immigration stance, is understood to have supported Austria’s objections.
Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio and his Austrian counterpart Alexander Schallenberg insisted the new mission was quite different from Sophia.
“There is a basic consensus that we now want a military operation and not a humanitarian mission,” Schallenberg said.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said there had been a long discussion about whether a naval element was needed but finally it was agreed it was “necessary to get a complete picture.”
“But it will be only in the eastern Mediterranean, where the weapons routes run,” Maas said, not near the current central Mediterranean migration routes.
Crucial to winning over skeptics like Austria was a provision that if the ships are deemed to be creating a “pull factor” — encouraging migrants to take to the sea in the hopes of being rescued and taken to Europe — the maritime part of the operation will be halted.
Borrell said that precise details of who would decide on this were still to be agreed, but it would likely be foreign ministers acting on the advice of military commanders.
A senior UN official warned Sunday that a fragile truce in Libya agreed in January but regularly breached is “holding by a thread.”
World leaders agreed at a Berlin summit last month to end all meddling in the conflict and stop the flow of weapons into Libya, but little has changed on the ground since then.
States including Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt support eastern commander Khalifa Haftar, while the weak UN-recognized government led by Fayez Al-Sarraj is backed by Turkey and Qatar.
“The arms embargo is being violated systematically and this is going to feed the fighters with an incredible amount of arms that make the cease-fire difficult and the truce very, very weak,” Borrell warned.
After a meeting of foreign ministers in Munich on Sunday — a follow-up to the Berlin conference — Borrell criticized Austria for blocking the Operation Sophia revival, saying it was absurd for a landlocked country which does not even have a navy to take such a stance.
EU agrees new mission to enforce Libya arms embargo
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EU agrees new mission to enforce Libya arms embargo
- Most EU governments want to uphold UN arms embargo
- Austria says sea mission will bring more migrants to Europe
Jordan sends more aid to Gaza as death toll continues to rise
- 50 trucks carried essential aid, food and clean water to vulnerable families in northern Gaza
- A separate shipment of 3,000 blood units is set to be delivered to the Jordanian field hospital in enclave
LONDON: Jordan sent another 50 trucks of humanitarian aid to Gaza on Sunday after resuming the dispatch of relief convoys last week, following months of an Israeli blockade that hindered assistance from reaching the Palestinian coastal enclave.
The Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization said the trucks carried essential aid, food and clean water to vulnerable families in northern Gaza. The initiative was in collaboration with the World Food Programme and the Jordanian Armed Forces.
It is part of the humanitarian aid bridge Amman launched since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza in October 2023 to support Palestinians. The JHC said that aid distribution will occur through locally coordinated methods to ensure it reaches those in need.
A separate shipment of 3,000 blood units is set to be delivered to the Jordanian field hospital in Gaza to support the healthcare sector. This initiative follows a nationwide blood donation campaign organized in collaboration with the Jordanian Medical Association and the Ministry of Health, the charity said.
Since late 2023, Jordan has delivered 7,815 aid trucks and 53 cargo planes through the Egyptian port of Arish, along with 102 helicopter sorties via the humanitarian air bridge, to support Palestinians in Gaza.
Jordan was among the first countries to conduct airlift missions in the early days of the war, delivering relief to Gaza. More than 58,000 Palestinians have reportedly been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza, which have been described as genocide by human rights groups and several heads of state.
Kuwaiti emir to attend Bastille Day, meet Macron during first official visit to France
- Kuwaiti-French relations commited to improving cooperation and supporting regional and global stability
- France was one of the first countries to support Kuwait’s independence in 1961
LONDON: Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah made his first official visit to France on Sunday since assuming power in December 2023.
The visit reflects the historical partnership between Paris and Kuwait, the Presidential Palace, the Elysee, said in a statement.
Sheikh Meshal will attend the official military parade to celebrate France’s national Bastille Day on July 14, alongside a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron.
The two parties aim to strengthen ties by enhancing partnerships in sectors such as diplomacy, defense, economy, education, health, culture, and scientific research, the Kuwait Agency reported.
France was one of the first countries to support Kuwait’s independence in 1961 and played a significant role in 1991 in its liberation from Iraqi forces led by Saddam Hussein, the Elysee said.
Trade between Kuwait and France was worth €2.8 billion ($3.27 billion) in 2023, with French infrastructure, energy, and construction companies leading projects in Kuwait. More than 1,000 students benefited from the educational programs offered by the French Institute, while French healthcare institutions, such as the Gustave Roussy Institute, contributed to supporting the Kuwaiti healthcare sector through consultations and projects.
Kuwaiti-French relations display a strong partnership, with a commitment to improving cooperation and supporting regional and global stability, the Elysee added.
Minister of Defense Sheikh Abdullah Ali Al-Sabah, Foreign Minister Abdullah Al-Yahya, the chief of the Kuwait Direct Investment Promotion Authority and other high officials are accompanying the emir of Kuwait.
Syria wildfires contained after 10 days
- The blazes in the coastal province of Latakia broke out amid an intense heatwave across the region
- UN humanitarian agency says fires destroyed about 100 square kilometers of forest and farmland
DAMASCUS: Syria’s civil defense agency on Sunday said wildfires in the country’s west, which have burned vast tracts of forest and farmland and forced evacuations, had been brought under control after 10 days.
In a statement on Facebook, the agency said that “with the spread of the fires halted and the fire hotspots brought under control on all fronts” on Saturday, teams on the ground were working to cool down the affected areas while monitoring any signs of reignition.
The blazes in the coastal province of Latakia broke out amid an intense heatwave across the region.
The UN humanitarian agency OCHA said they destroyed about 100 square kilometers of forest and farmland.
As the fires raged, Syrian emergency workers faced tough conditions including high temperatures, strong winds, rugged mountainous terrain and the danger of explosive war remnants.
This all comes in a country worn down by years of conflict and economic crisis.
In a post on X, the Syrian minister for emergencies and disaster management, Raed Al-Saleh, said that with help from Turkish, Jordanian, Lebanese, Qatari and Iraqi teams, firefighters had “managed to halt the spread of the fire on all fronts, which is the most important step toward containing the wildfires.”
The “situation is the best it has been in the past 10 days,” Saleh said late Saturday.
“There are still threats due to wind activity, but we are working to prevent any renewed expansion of the fires,” the minister added.
The civil defense agency said rescue teams were carrying out “operations to open pathways and firebreaks within the forests... in order to reduce the chances of fire spreading in case of reignition.”
Authorities have not reported any casualties, but several towns in Latakia province have been evacuated as a precaution.
Nearly seven months after the ousting of longtime ruler Bashar Assad, Syria is still reeling from more than a decade of civil war that ravaged the country’s economy, infrastructure and public services.
With man-made climate change increasing the likelihood and intensity of droughts and wildfires worldwide, Syria has also been battered by heatwaves and low rainfall.
In June, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization said that Syria had “not seen such bad climate conditions in 60 years.”
Apartment fire in Turkiye’s Ankara kills 3, including a baby
- The blaze started late Saturday night on the fourth floor and spread rapidly, according to local media
- Firefighters took four hours to extinguish the flames. The state-run Anadolu Agency reported that 39 suffered light smoke inhalation, including seven firefighters
Istanbul: A fire at a 26-story apartment building in the Turkish capital, Ankara, killed three people, including a three-and-a-half-month-old baby, local media said.
The blaze broke out at around 10:00 p.m. local time Saturday night on the fourth floor and quickly spread through the structure, according to the state-run Anadolu Agency. It took firefighters four hours to put out the fire.
The agency also reported that 39 suffered light smoke inhalation, including seven firefighters. Paramedics attended to 26 people on site, while 20 others have been hospitalized, one in critical condition.
59 Palestinians in Gaza killed by Israeli airstrikes or shot dead while seeking aid
- The Red Cross said its field hospital saw its largest influx of dead in more than a year of operation after the shootings
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip: At least 31 Palestinians were fatally shot on their way to an aid distribution site in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, while Israeli airstrikes killed at least 28 Palestinians including four children, Palestinian hospital officials and witnesses said.
There were no signs of a breakthrough in ceasefire talks following two days of meetings between US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump had said he was nearing an agreement between Israel and Hamas that would potentially wind down the war.
The 31 Palestinians shot dead were on their way to a distribution site run by the Israeli-backed American organization Gaza Humanitarian Foundation near Rafah in southern Gaza, hospital officials and witnesses said.
The Red Cross said its field hospital saw its largest influx of dead in more than a year of operation after the shootings, and that the overwhelming majority of the more than 100 people hurt had gunshot wounds.
Airstrikes in central Gaza’s Deir Al-Balah killed 13 including the four children, officials at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital said. Fifteen others were killed in Khan Younis in the south, according to Nasser Hospital. Israel’s military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Intense airstrikes continued Saturday evening in the area of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza.
Israelis rallied yet again for a ceasefire deal. “Arrogance is what brought the disaster upon us,” former hostage Eli Sharabi said of Israeli leaders.
Teen’s first attempt to pick up food ends in death
The 21-month war has left much of Gaza’s population of over 2 million reliant on outside aid while food security experts warn of famine. Israel blocked and then restricted aid entry after ending the latest ceasefire in March.
“All responsive individuals reported they were attempting to access food distribution sites,” the Red Cross said after the shootings near Rafah, noting the “alarming frequency and scale” of such mass casualty incidents.
Israel’s military said it fired warning shots toward people it said were behaving suspiciously to prevent them from approaching. It said it was not aware of any casualties. The GHF said no incident occurred near its sites.
Abdullah Al-Haddad said he was 200 meters from the aid distribution site run by the GHF close to the Shakoush area when an Israeli tank started firing at crowds of Palestinians.
“We were together, and they shot us at once,” he said, writhing in pain from a leg wound at Nasser Hospital.
Mohammed Jamal Al-Sahloo, another witness, said Israel’s military had ordered them to proceed to the site when the shooting started.
Sumaya Al-Sha’er’s 17-year-old son, Nasir, was killed, hospital officials said.
“He said to me, ‘Mom, you don’t have flour and today I’ll go and bring you flour, even if I die, I’ll go and get it,’” she said. “But he never came back home.”
Until then, she said, she had prevented the teenager from going to GHF sites because she thought it was too dangerous.
Witnesses, health officials and UN officials say hundreds have been killed by Israeli fire while heading toward GHF distribution points through military zones off limits to independent media. The military has acknowledged firing warning shots at Palestinians who it says approached its forces in a suspicious manner.
The GHF denies there has been violence in or around its sites. But two of its contractors told The Associated Press that their colleagues have fired live ammunition and stun grenades as Palestinians scramble for food, allegations the foundation denied.
In a separate effort, the UN and aid groups say they struggle to distribute humanitarian aid because of Israeli military restrictions and a breakdown of law and order that has led to widespread looting.
The first fuel – 150,000 liters – entered Gaza this week after 130 days, a joint statement by UN aid bodies said, calling it a small amount for the “the backbone of survival in Gaza.” Fuel runs hospitals, water systems, transport and more, the statement said.
Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people in their Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that sparked the war and abducted 251. Hamas still holds some 50 hostages, with at least 20 believed to remain alive.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed over 57,800 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry, under Gaza’s Hamas-run government, doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its count. The UN and other international organizations see its figures as the most reliable statistics on war casualties.
