CAIRO: Egypt’s parliament on Monday mandated President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi to send troops to Libya.
A statement by the parliament stipulated “the approval of sending elements of the Egyptian Armed Forces on combat missions outside the borders of the Egyptian state, to defend Egyptian national security in the Arab strategic direction against the actions of armed criminal militias and foreign terrorist elements, until the end of the forces’ mission.”
The mandate comes a few days after El-Sisi met Libyan tribal leaders in Cairo, where they called on the Egyptian Armed Forces “to intervene to protect the national security of Libya and Egypt.”
El-Sisi also discussed the Libyan issue and developments in Ethiopia’s Renaissance Dam with US President Donald Trump.
The Egyptian parliament had met in order to give El-Sisi a mandate to use military force to defend Egyptian national interests, specifically with regard to Ethiopia and Libya.
El-Sayed El-Sharif, deputy speaker of the parliament, said that Article 152 of the Egyptian constitution stipulated that the state could not declare war nor send forces on combat missions until after the approval of parliament.
“In these situations there is no majority or opposition. We are all one vote in support of our Egyptian state in confronting these dangers,” he said.
Libya’s Government of National Accord (GNA), with the support of Turkey, recently launched an offensive against the Libyan National Army in northwest Libya and vowed to advance to capture Sirte and the inland Al-Jufra airbase.
El-Sisi had stressed that the frontline of Sirte and Al-Jufra was “a red line” for Egyptian national security.
El-Sisi was also briefed on Sunday night on the developments in the Renaissance Dam and the three-way negotiations between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan, and discussed developments in the situation in Libya during a meeting of the National Defense Council.
“The council discussed the overall political, security and military situations of the state in all strategic directions, in the context of developments of the various current challenges on the regional and international arenas,” a spokesman for the Egyptian presidency said.
“In light of Egypt’s endeavor to stabilize the current situation and not to cross previously declared lines, with the aim of bringing peace between all Libyan parties, the council stressed the strong ties that link the two countries.
“Egypt will not spare any effort to support Libya, and help its people take their country to safety and overcome the current crisis, based on the fact that the Libyan file is considered one of the highest priorities of Egyptian foreign policy, taking into account that Libyan security is an integral part of Egyptian and Arab national security,” the spokesman said.
The council’s members affirmed Egypt’s commitment to a political solution to the Libyan crisis in a manner that guaranteed preserving Libyan unity and the sovereignty of the country, restoring the pillars of national institutions and eliminating terrorism.
“(Egypt aims to) prevent the spread of criminal groups and extremist armed militias, as well as put an end to illegal foreign interventions that contribute to worsening security conditions and threatening neighboring countries and international peace and security. It also will ensure a fair and transparent distribution of Libyan wealth to its people and prevent the control of any extremist groups over this wealth,” the spokesman said.
Egypt parliament approves possible intervention in Libya
https://arab.news/69ezr
Egypt parliament approves possible intervention in Libya
- Egyptian intervention would put Turkey and Egypt — in possible direct confrontation
- Vote intended to help Egypt defend Libya against Turkish aggression
France preparing to help its citizens in Israel, Iran leave, Barrot says
French citizens in Israel will be able to board buses starting Friday morning
PARIS: France is preparing to help its citizens in Israel and Iran to leave those countries amid a week of strikes exchanged between the two rivals, French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Thursday.
Barrot told reporters that a convoy will be arranged by the end of the week to get French nationals without their own means of doing so to the Turkish or Armenian borders from Iran to access airports in those countries.
French citizens in Israel will be able to board buses starting Friday morning from the Jordanian border for airports in Jordan, with a flight chartered from Amman by the end of the week to aid the passage of French citizens who are vulnerable or in emergency situations, Barrot said.
Separately, Barrot reiterated that France was committed to holding a conference on a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, after France postponed one scheduled for this week.
UN rights chief condemns civilian toll of Israel-Iran escalation, warns of regional conflagration
- ‘Threats and inflammatory rhetoric by senior officials on both sides suggest a worrying intention to inflict harm on civilians,’ says Volker Turk
- Official figures from both sides put the death tolls at 224 in Iran and at least 24 in Israel, and mass displacement is surging, particularly in Tehran
NEW YORK CITY: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk on Thursday condemned the mounting civilian toll in the escalation of hostilities between Israel and Iran, and warned that the conflict risks plunging the wider region into war.
In a strongly worded statement he said the “wide-scale, continuing attacks” by Israel on Iranian territory and the retaliatory missile and drone strikes by Iran were having “severe human rights and humanitarian impacts” on civilians.
“The extensive airstrikes and missile and drone attacks have already caused significant harm beyond military objectives,” Turk said, citing attacks that have killed civilians and damaged critical infrastructure including hospitals, homes, water supply systems and energy facilities.
According to the latest official figures from Tehran, 224 people have been killed in the attacks on Iran, though human rights groups estimate the toll to be more than twice that number. In Israel, government figures report at least 24 dead and more than 840 wounded. Displacement is surging, particularly in the Iranian capital, where evacuation orders have prompted the large-scale flight of people from affected areas.
Turk urged both nations to adhere to the principles of international humanitarian law, emphasizing the in particular the legal obligation to distinguish between military and civilian targets, and to refrain from indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks.
“It is appalling to see how civilians are treated as collateral damage in the conduct of hostilities,” he said. “Threats and inflammatory rhetoric by senior officials on both sides suggest a worrying intention to inflict harm on civilians.”
He called for “maximum restraint,” respect for international law, and a return to the negotiating table as the only way to halt the “spiraling illogic of escalation.”
The latest flare-up, which began when Israel launched attacks on Iran on June 13, follows months of rising tensions and tit-for-tat strikes that have drawn concern from regional powers and global leaders who fear a wider escalation of war in the Middle East.
Russia warns US against ‘military intervention’ in Iran-Israel war
- Zakharova said: “We would like to particularly warn Washington against military intervention in the situation“
- Any US military action “would be an extremely dangerous step”
MOSCOW: Russia’s foreign ministry on Thursday warned the United States not to take military action against Iran, amid speculation over whether Washington will enter the war alongside Israel.
Moscow issued its warning after Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in a phone call condemned Israeli attacks on Iran and urged a diplomatic solution to the conflict.
Israel launched an unprecedented wave of strikes at Iran last week, to which Tehran responded with missile and drone attacks.
US President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday he was considering whether to join Israel’s strikes. “I may do it, I may not do it,” he said.
Russian foreign ministry’s spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told reporters: “We would like to particularly warn Washington against military intervention in the situation.”
Any US military action “would be an extremely dangerous step with truly unpredictable negative consequences,” she added.
Earlier on Thursday, following the leaders’ call, the Kremlin said Putin and Xi “strongly condemn Israel’s actions.”
Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov told reporters that Moscow and Beijing believed the end to the hostilities “should be achieved exclusively by political and diplomatic means.”
Iran’s options against foreign aggression include closing Strait of Hormuz, lawmaker says
- “Iran has numerous options to respond to its enemies and uses such options based on what the situation is,” the semi-official Mehr news agency quoted Behnam Saeedi
- “Closing the Strait of Hormuz is one of the potential options for Iran“
DUBAI: Iran could shut the Strait of Hormuz as a way of hitting back against its enemies, a senior lawmaker said on Thursday, though a second member of parliament said this would only happen if Tehran’s vital interests were endangered.
Iran has in the past threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz to traffic in retaliation for Western pressure, and shipping sources said on Wednesday that commercial ships were avoiding Iran’s waters around the strait.
“Iran has numerous options to respond to its enemies and uses such options based on what the situation is,” the semi-official Mehr news agency quoted Behnam Saeedi, a member of the parliament’s National Security Committee presidium as saying.
“Closing the Strait of Hormuz is one of the potential options for Iran,” he said.
Mehr later quoted another lawmaker, Ali Yazdikhah, as saying Iran would continue to allow free shipping in the Strait and in the Gulf so long as its vital national interests were not at risk.
“If the United States officially and operationally enters the war in support of the Zionists (Israel), it is the legitimate right of Iran in view of pressuring the US and Western countries to disrupt their oil trade’s ease of transit,” Yazdikhah said.
President Donald Trump is keeping the world guessing about whether the United States will join Israel’s bombardment of Iranian nuclear sites.
Tehran has so far refrained from closing the Strait because all regional states and many other countries benefit from it, Yazdikhah added.
“It is better than no country supports Israel to confront Iran. Iran’s enemies know well that we have tens of ways to make the Strait of Hormuz unsafe and this option is feasible for us,” the parliamentarian said.
The Strait of Hormuz lies between Oman and Iran and is the primary export route for Gulf producers such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Iraq, and Kuwait.
About 20 percent of the world’s daily oil consumption — around 18 million barrels — passes through the Strait of Hormuz, which is only about 33 km (21 miles) wide at its narrowest point.
UN: Two million Syrians returned home since Assad’s fall
- The Syrian civil war, which erupted in 2011, displaced half of the population internally or abroad
- But Assad’s December 8 ouster at the hands of Islamist forces sparked hopes of return
BEIRUT: Over two million Syrians who had fled their homes during their country’s war have returned since the ouster of Bashar Assad, UN refugee agency chief Filippo Grandi said Thursday, ahead of a visit to Syria.
The Syrian civil war, which erupted in 2011 with Assad’s brutal repression of anti-government protests, displaced half of the population internally or abroad.
But Assad’s December 8 ouster at the hands of Islamist forces sparked hopes of return.
“Over two million Syrian refugees and displaced have returned home since December,” Grandi wrote on X during a visit to neighboring Lebanon, which hosts about 1.5 million Syrian refugees, according to official estimates.
It is “a sign of hope amid rising regional tensions,” he said.
“This proves that we need political solutions – not another wave of instability and displacement.”
After 14 years of war, many returnees face the reality of finding their homes and property badly damaged or destroyed.
But with the recent lifting of Western sanctions on Syria, new authorities hope for international support to launch reconstruction, which the UN estimates could cost more than $400 billion.
Earlier this month, UNHCR estimated that up to 1.5 million Syrians from abroad and two million internally displaced persons may return by the end of 2025.
