On 16 May, a parade was held in Benghazi-Benina under tight security in the presence of Libyan National Army (LNA) Commander Khalifa Haftar, House of Representatives (HoR) Speaker Aqeela Saleh and Government of National Stability (GNS) Prime Minister Osama Hammad to mark the 10th anniversary of the start of Operation Dignity. In his speech, Haftar paid tribute to the ‘heroes and martyrs of Operation Dignity’. He stated that today’s and future generations ‘will not forget your sacrifices.’ He declared his support for all initiatives aimed at fair and transparent elections. He called on the ‘Libyan patriots’ to unite behind a democratic vision for the country.
Saleh thanked the armed forces and their commander and emphasized that they had saved Libya from chaos and terror. He said, throughout history, Libya has been the object of ambition for invaders, but they were taught lessons in heroism every time.
Several foreign diplomats and defense attaches also attended the parade, including from the US, UK, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Egypt, Morocco, UAE, and Jordan. The LNA specifically namedropped the Chief of Staff of the UAE Armed Forces, Issa Seif al-Mazrouei in its statements about the event.