The Palestinian reconciliation file occupied part of the talks between Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi and his Palestinian counterpart, Mahmoud Abbas, as Cairo affirmed support for “reconciliation efforts between the Palestinian forces.”
According to a Palestinian leader who spoke to Asharq Al-Awsat on Wednesday, the summit talks are part of Egyptian efforts that have been ongoing for some time to heal the internal rift before the Palestinian elections scheduled for next November, and the possibility of holding a Palestinian-Palestinian dialogue in Egypt, expecting that this reconciliation will be a priority in the coming period in order to prepare for the period after the Israeli elections next October.
During the summit meeting between Sisi and Abbas, Cairo stressed the continuation of its efforts, in coordination with mediators, to implement the agreement to stop the war in the Gaza Strip that was reached during the Sharm El-Sheikh Peace Summit in October 2025, and the need for all parties to adhere to the terms of the agreement, including stopping the escalation, ensuring the flow of humanitarian aid, and preparing the atmosphere for the early recovery and reconstruction phase.
Al-Sisi affirmed “Egypt’s support for the Palestinian National Authority and for efforts to achieve consensus between the various Palestinian forces in a way that enhances the interests of the brotherly people,” according to a statement by the Egyptian presidency, which revealed that “it was agreed to intensify political coordination mechanisms during the next stage at all levels.”
According to the Palestinian News Agency, during a summit meeting with the Egyptian President at the Ittihadiya Palace in Cairo on Wednesday, Abbas indicated to continue working to renew national legitimacy through the upcoming elections, reiterating his refusal to harm the unity of the Palestinian land or the sovereign institutions of the State of Palestine.
He stressed that “Gaza is an integral part of our state, and that there is no alternative to Palestinian legitimacy, and we will not allow the Gaza Strip to be separated from the West Bank and East Jerusalem.”
For his part, member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Wasel Abu Youssef, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the “Abbas-Sisi summit” is important in light of the circumstances that the Palestinian issue is going through, especially since part of its talks are concerned with arrangements related to the internal Palestinian situation, including the Palestinian national dialogue. Egypt is always keen to make these dialogues a success and embrace many of them in order to heal the rift, reject division and division, and achieve national unity before going to the elections.
He added: “The topic of national dialogue and ending the division is very important in this particular circumstance, especially since there are dialogues taking place between many factions towards expanding the dialogue to all factions so that there is a comprehensive national dialogue, either through a meeting of the general secretaries of the factions, as happened previously, or at the level of an invitation to dialogue, and the most appropriate place is Egypt.”
Abu Youssef explained: “We hope to reach a comprehensive national dialogue in the presence of everyone through practical mechanisms that lead to arranging the internal Palestinian situation and ending the division, affirming the unity of our Palestinian people in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and occupied Jerusalem, and also the responsibility of Palestinian legitimacy for all these lands in the context of preparing for the elections scheduled to be held during the coming period, whether with regard to the legislative elections on November 28, if the occupation government does not obstruct their holding, especially in the Gaza Strip.”
It is believed that it is in everyone's interest to respond to Cairo's efforts to heal the rift, and for the national dialogue to be healed before the elections. Most importantly, there should be results emerging from it that rise to the level of these challenges and risks to arrange the Palestinian internal situation into a comprehensive Palestinian national unity that adheres to rights and principles and also adheres to Palestinian representation within the framework of the organization, the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. Over the years, attempts were made to unite the ranks of the Palestinian people, and Cairo sponsored more than one conference, but they did not result in a final agreement.
The municipalities of southern Libya have once again imposed themselves at the forefront of the political conflict between the two competing governments in the east and west of the country, after the decision of the parliament-designated government in Benghazi, headed by Osama Hammad, to suspend 12 mayors from work and subject them to investigation, against the backdrop of their visit to the capital, Tripoli, and meeting with officials in the “National Unity” government and in the General Electricity Company.
The Hammad government has not yet issued a comment clarifying the circumstances of the decision, or the nature of the violations attributed to the deans, at a time when the move raised objection from the concerned deans, who saw that their movements to Tripoli came within the framework of following up on the needs of their regions, and coordinating on service files.
The incident does not appear to be isolated from precedents witnessed in the relationship between the Hammad government and a number of municipal mayors. Two years ago, the authorities of eastern Libya took measures against mayors who participated in a meeting with Abdul Hamid Al-Dabaiba, head of the “National Unity” government in Tripoli, in a move that sparked local criticism at the time, against the backdrop of what was considered interference in the work of municipal councils, and a reflection of the political division in the local administration.
From the first moment of the issuance of the decision of the Ministry of Local Government in the Hammad government, the arrested mayors maintained the validity of their position, in a joint statement on Tuesday evening, saying that their visit to Tripoli came “within the framework of communication and coordination” regarding the needs of their service areas, and they expressed their surprise that measures had been taken against them, pointing to the participation of mayors of other municipalities in similar meetings without similar measures being taken against them.
The deans demanded that the law be applied “with one standard,” and that they be returned to work unless legal violations are proven against them. They affirmed their respect for the law and the jurisdictions of state institutions, and denied that their visits to Tripoli were linked to any financial or administrative violations, stressing that their primary goal was to follow up on the needs of the population and coordinate the services provided to them.
The statement included the mayors of the municipalities of Ghat, Al-Owaynat, Garma, Al-Ruqayba, Al-Wadi Al-Sharqi, Murzuq, Al-Sharqiya and Zuwailah, in addition to Tijrahi, Al-Qatrun, Brak Al-Shati and Burqan Al-Shati.
The decision brings to the fore the extent to which local administration in Libya is affected by the division between executive institutions in the east and west, especially in the southern regions, whose service needs, such as electricity, water, and infrastructure, are linked to institutions and bodies operating in areas subject to different authorities.
Dealing with mayors of municipalities in this context carries a dimension that goes beyond administrative procedures, according to observers, as elected municipal councils represent a direct communication link between residents and state institutions, while their inclusion in the paths of political tension may complicate their ability to follow up on service files, which often requires communication with parties located outside the scope of the local authority.
The political activist, Rania Abdel Salam Othman, a founding member of the “Fezzan National Political Rally,” criticized what she described as the interrogation and threat of a number of mayors of the southern municipalities, because they went to Tripoli to search for solutions to the service conditions. She said, in a post on Facebook, that “people’s suffering is not a charge, and striving to serve them is not a crime,” calling for enabling local administrations to communicate with various state institutions.
The incident also raised questions from activists and bloggers about the extent to which the measures taken against the deans were consistent with declared international efforts to unify state institutions.
According to political analyst Khaled Al-Sharif, there is “a backwards movement dynamic that is accelerating in disruption with steps between the parties to the conflict, the closer a glimmer of hope for resolving the Libyan crisis approaches.” He told Asharq Al-Awsat that these practices have become “the most prominent signs of political division in Libya,” highlighting that their repercussions reach the levels of local administration and daily services.
The municipal crisis comes at a time when Libya is witnessing a new political path led by the United Nations, after the “4+4” committee signed an agreement on August 30 regarding the completion of the political road map, which includes arrangements for elections, and the restructuring of the Board of Directors of the High National Elections Commission, in an effort to end the transitional phase and unify institutions.
This coincided with continued talk about international initiatives aimed at bringing the positions of the Libyan parties closer together and unifying the executive authority and sovereign institutions. However, the continuation of disputes at local levels, including municipal administration, and the relationship of elected councils with central authorities, highlight that the path of unifying institutions still faces a test that goes beyond higher political understandings.
The new Algerian parliament, emerging from the legislative elections that took place on July 2, begins its work today, Wednesday, within its first legislative session, with the urgent file of reviewing the penal code at the top of its agenda. The anticipated amendment aims to activate the death penalty against anyone found guilty of deliberately setting fires to forests, in addition to those convicted of crimes of killing and abusing children.
This legislative move comes in response to President Abdelmadjid Tebboune’s announcement of his desire to lift the effective freeze on the death penalty, against the backdrop of the wave of devastating forest fires that struck several regions in the east of the country during the summer, leaving dozens of victims and massive property losses. Although Algerian courts have continued to pronounce death sentences, their implementation has remained practically frozen since 1993.
This file has sensitive field dimensions, as a week ago nine people were arrested in Jijel Province (about 400 km east of the capital) on suspicion of involvement in setting fires, amid local protests and demonstrations organized last Sunday, during which family members of the detainees expressed their fears about the possibility of the detainees being subjected to this strict punishment. The protesters also assert that there is “intentional ambiguity” regarding a video published by the suspects during the fires, in which they appear carrying traditional means to extinguish the fire while it was raging, while security investigations confirm that they were about to ignite it.
Lifting the freeze on the death penalty
Last month, President Tebboune directed his Minister of Justice, Lotfi Boudjemaa, to prepare a text to review the Penal Code before September 15, in order to tighten penalties for those causing forest fires that lead to casualties, and to refer it to Parliament to take its legislative course, in its first session.
During the cabinet meeting on September 6, Tebboune announced the expansion of the decision to lift the freeze on the application of the death penalty to include child kidnappers and those involved in torturing them, in addition to applying it against those proven to be involved in starting fires that lead to casualties.
It is known that the government did not provide a final tally of the summer fires, while the Minister of Health confirmed during the first days of their outbreak that they left 12 people dead. But according to statistics prepared by activists in the affected areas, the number of victims exceeds one hundred.
The death penalty is already stipulated in the Algerian Penal Code, when arson leads to the death of one or more people (Article 399). However, the amendment requested by President Tebboune aims, as it seemed to observers, to expand the scope of the death penalty to include perpetrators of intentional forest fires, regardless of the occurrence of deaths, as well as to allow the actual implementation of those sentences.
Thus, this measure will represent an expansion of the use of the death penalty, and a break from the moratorium imposed on the implementation of sentences since 1993. The last people to carry out this punishment were four members of the “Salvation Front” after the judiciary convicted them of the Algiers airport bombing in 1992, which left 10 dead and 118 wounded.
The law stipulates the death penalty for 18 crimes, and although Algeria suspended the implementation of this penalty three decades ago, it did not prevent its issuance in the courts, as evidenced by the fact that there are a large number of people in prisons sentenced to death, without the penalty being applied to them, because Algeria ratified and voted in the United Nations, based on the recommendation of the General Assembly, in favor of abolishing the death penalty.
Opinion of the power and opposition parties
One of the most famous criminals convicted of death sentences is the soldier Mubarak Boumarafi, the killer of President Mohamed Boudiaf on June 29, 1992. He was sentenced in 1994 and turned into life imprisonment.
In 2022, the Capital Criminal Court also imposed death sentences against 49 people, who were accused of committing a horrific crime against a young man in his thirties, named Jamal bin Ismail, in the Kabylie region (east), who came there to help extinguish massive fires that left deaths and great destruction in the region in the summer of 2021. The sentence was later reduced after the rulings were overturned.
In its reaction to Algeria’s decision to return to implementing the death penalty, the International Federation for Human Rights, in a statement issued on the 14th of this month, affirmed its categorical rejection of this step, noting that “merely raising the idea of resuming execution, or expanding the scope of the maximum penalty, is a major decline in the field of human rights, and a very disturbing signal regarding the country’s international obligations.” Emphasizing that “fighting arson must be based on independent and accurate investigations, assigning responsibilities based on evidence, respecting the presumption of innocence, and full guarantees of defense rights.” Every prosecuted person should enjoy a fair trial before an independent judiciary, and have effective means of appeal.”
For its part, Amnesty International called on the Algerian authorities in a statement to “immediately abandon any plans to expand the scope of the death penalty, or resume executions, more than three decades after they stopped.”
While the voices of Algerian jurists were absent at home, due to the dissolution of the most important human rights organizations by judicial decisions in recent years, all parties loyal to the authority announced their support for the decision, in contrast to the opposition parties, especially the “Socialist Forces Front,” which expressed strong reservations about it.
