The Libyan Government of National Unity will provide 50 million US dollars as part of international relief efforts for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
This was announced today by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh, in a speech during a cabinet meeting in the city of Gharyan, in the north-west of Libya, which two weeks ago was the scene of armed clashes between local militias.
Nearly four weeks of Israeli bombardment on the Gaza Strip in retaliation for deadly attacks by Hamas gunmen in southern Israel on Oct. 7 have killed more than 9,000 people, most of them women and children,
Last week, a group of independent United Nations experts called for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, saying time was running out for Palestinians there who are at “grave risk of genocide”.
“We remain convinced that the Palestinian people are at grave risk of genocide,” the group of experts, made up of seven U.N. special rapporteurs, said in a statement.
“We demand a humanitarian ceasefire to ensure that aid reaches those who need it the most.”
On Oct. 28, departing senior U.N. human rights official Craig Mokhiber wrote to the High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, saying: “we are seeing a genocide unfolding before our eyes, and the Organization that we serve appears powerless to stop it.”
Aid supplies to Gaza have been choked since Israel began bombarding the densely populated enclave, with aid organisations saying it is nowhere near matching the needs of its residents.
“The situation in Gaza has reached a catastrophic tipping point,” the U.N. experts said, adding that Gazans had been left with scarce water, medicine, fuel and essential supplies while facing health hazards.
The experts also pointed to Israel allies, which they said “bear responsibility and must act now to prevent its disastrous course of action”.
“We call on Israel and its allies to agree to an immediate ceasefire,” the U.N. experts said. “We are running out of time.”