Libya to assess ‘internal damage’ caused by secret meeting with Israel

Libya has officially launched an investigation into the secret meeting in Rome between former foreign minister Najla Mangoush and Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen last month, the North African nation’s attorney-general’s office announced Sunday morning.

Mangoush was suspended and subsequently fired following Israeli publication of the meeting, leading to her fleeing Libya.

Tripoli’s investigative task force will “measure the amount of damage inflicted on the interests of the Libyan state from [the reports] as well from the interrogation of those involved in the meeting,” the attorney general’s office said.

Libya’s Dbeibeh rejects peace with Israel

Last week, Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid al-Dbeibeh rejected any notion of normalization with Israel, doubling down on investigating the “serious matter” of Rome and vowing to uncover “what happened in Rome, regardless of the circumstances, reasons, and methods, and regardless of good or bad intentions.

“Even if it was a side meeting, or in passing, it requires a harsh response to be a lesson on the nation’s sanctities,” Dbeibeh was quoted by Libyan media as saying.

The prime minister stressed his and his unity government’s “complete rejection” of normalization with Israel and “bias toward the Palestinian people and their just cause.”