Summary:

On 9 September 2024, Belkacem Haftar, the General Director of the General Development Fund and son of Field Marshall Khalifa Haftar, conducted a visit to the city of Derna to honor the memory of the flood victims that ravaged the city on 10 and 11 September 2023.  

Belkacem Haftar announced the imminent opening of vital projects in Derna in a speech addressed to the members of the city’s Council of Elders and Sheikhs, in addition to representatives of companies contracted to implement reconstruction projects. 

Accompanied by the President of House of Representatives (HoR), Aguila Saleh, Belkacem Haftar inaugurated some of these projects, including a hospital at the University of Derna and the Mahmoud Al-Harish Clinic Complex, and several bridge projects. 

Previously, on 5 September, Belkacem Hafter declared that 70% of reconstruction projects in Derna had been completed during the opening ceremony of the South Reconstruction Conference in Sebha. 

This conference also witnessed the signing of the comprehensive reconciliation agreement between the Tebu and the Tuareg people of Murzuq. This was in addition to the agreement to implement an international road project between Libya, Egypt and Chad that was signed by Belkacem Haftar and the Egyptian Arab Contractors Company.  

Outlook: 

The eastern-based government is continuing to gain power compared to the government in Tripoli which was limited to declaring 11 September a day of mourning. By monopolizing the reconstruction efforts in Derna and the south, the Haftar family is likely seeking to consolidate its power in the east and the south while providing a profitable market for the construction companies of its Egyptian ally. 

The national reconciliation agreements with local tribes that were once in dire conflict with the eastern government will solidify the new balance of power in Libya that is increasingly trending toward an empowered east. However, consolidated power and inaugurated construction projects have not translated into large-scale humanitarian support for the many thousands of victims of the Derna disaster, as pointed out recently in a disturbing report by Lawyers for Justice in Libya. 

Tripoli will likely try to compensate for this power deficit by seeking help from foreign powers such as Turkey to deter the eastern government from escalating the situation militarily. 

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