Libya orders out ambassadors from US, UK, France, Italy over support for Israel

The Libyan parliament on Wednesday demanded the departure of ambassadors from countries that “support” Israel as it fights Hamas in Gaza, taking specific aim at the United States, Britain, France and Italy.

Israel has been bombarding the Gaza Strip since October 7, when Hamas militants launched an attack that Israeli officials say has killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians.

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza says that Israel’s strikes have killed more than 6,500 Palestinians, also mainly civilians.

In a statement published on its official website, the eastern-based parliament — backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar in Libya split between two rival administration — threatened to cut energy supplies if “massacres” against Palestinians did not stop.

“We demand that the ambassadors of the states which support the Zionist entity (Israel) in its crimes leave the territory (of Libya) immediately,” the statement said.

“If the massacres committed by the Zionist enemy do not stop, we demand that the Libyan government suspend the export of oil and gas to the states that support it,” it continued.

The parliament denounced “in the strongest terms” the actions of “the governments of the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Italy”.

It said these nations “support the Zionist entity in its crimes” in the Gaza Strip, while their leaders “lecture on human rights and the right of peoples to self-determination”.

After the fall of Moamer Kadhafi in a popular uprising in 2011, Libya, riven by fratricidal violence and division, has been governed by two rival entities.

The Tripoli-based government led by Abdulhamid Dbeibah is recognised by the United Nations, while authorities in Libya’s east are backed by Haftar, a veteran of the Kadhafi-era army.

Libyans have rallied across the country in solidarity with Palestinians since the latest war broke out, particularly following a deadly hospital blast in Gaza on October 17 which Hamas has blamed on Israel. The Israeli military said the explosion was caused by a misfired Palestinian rocket.