International actors
Tracking developments of international actors in Libya’s security space including military activity, the presence of foreign operatives and diplomacy pertaining to Libya’s security.
Saddam Haftar and Mahmoud Hamza meet senior Turkish officials at IDEF 25 in Istanbul
On 22 July, Turkey’s Defence Minister Yaşar Güler received Lieutenant General Saddam Khalifa Haftar, Chief of Staff of the Libyan National Army (LNA) Ground Forces, in Istanbul on the sidelines of the International Defence Industry Fair (IDEF) 25 defense expo in a...
Anger at UNSMIL persists with calls for sit-in and open civil disobedience outside HQ
On 21 July, the Western Region Movement announced that it would embark on a sit-in and open civil disobedience outside the headquarters of UNSMIL, demanding its immediate departure from the country. The movement accused the mission of a disastrous failure to fulfil...
Israel still seeking to forcibly relocate Gazans to Libya
On 18 July, Axios reported that the head of Israel’s intelligence agency (Mossad), David Barnea, had visited Washington, D.C. to persuade the Trump administration to support it in convincing Ethiopia, Indonesia and Libya to accept large numbers of displaced...
Germany arrests Mitiga prison official on ICC war crimes warrant
On 18 July, the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced that on 16 July, Libyan national Khaled Muhammed Ali al-Hishri was arrested by German authorities was arrested on the basis of an ICC arrest warrant for crimes against humanity and war crimes.
EU to re-engage with Haftar over fears of Russia weaponising migration
On 10 July, a meeting on the incident and wider migration crisis reportedly took place between European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Italian PM Giorgia Meloni and the Maltese PM Robert Abela on the sidelines of...
Europeans and Libyan officials discuss migration and broader security cooperation
Libya’s Attorney General Sadiq al-Sour has held several meetings with European ambassadors and officials over the last two weeks, with discussions focusing on combating human smuggling and info-sharing with Operation Irini. On 10 July, a new meeting of the Technical...
Greece suspends asylum applications from Libya
After the delegation of EU ministers and the European Commissioner for Migration Magnus Brunner was turned away from Benghazi on 8 July and forced to leave the country, the Europeans and Libyans have been regrouping and reacting. On 9 July, the Greek government...
GNU hosts European interior ministers to discuss tackling illegal migration
The Government of National Unity (GNU) held an expanded meeting in Tripoli this week with high-level European actors to discuss regional coordination to tackle illegal migration. On 8 July, PM Abdul Hameed Dabaiba opened the meeting in the presence of the Ministers of...
Migrants arriving from Libya to Italy nearly double in first half of 2025
According to the Italian Ministry of Interior, 27,000 migrants arrived in Italy after departing from the Libyan coast in the first half of 2025, nearly double the number of migrants recorded during the same period last year (14,684), making Libya the primary departure...