Libya Rejects Normalization with Israel

Tripoli, MINA – Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah on Thursday rejected the prospect of normalizing relations with Israel, days after news broke about a secret meeting between the country’s two foreign ministers.

Last week, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen publicly announced that the Libyan Foreign Minister and him had held a private meeting in Rome the previous week, which was the first such meeting between top diplomats from the two countries.

The following day, Prime Minister Dbeibah dismissed Foreign Minister Najla Mangoush and launched an investigation into the meeting. Arab News reported.

Normalizing relations with Israel under a 1957 law in Libya is illegal. Libya has long been hostile to Israel and supports Palestine.

“We reiterate our rejection of any form of normalization,” Dbeibah said in a televised ministerial meeting on Thursday evening. “Long live Libya, long live Palestine, and long live the Palestinian struggle in all of our hearts,” he said.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry declined to comment on Dbeibah’s remarks. (T/RE1/P2)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)