Libya parliament orders out diplomats of countries backing Israel

TRIPOLI: 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 Hamas-run 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”.