On 25 June, Haftar received a UAE Armed Forces delegation led by Deputy Chief of Staff Major General al-Mazrouei in al-Rajmah, Benghazi. The LNA said that the meeting fell within “the framework of brotherhood and cooperation between Libya and UAE at all levels.” This visit comes just a month after Egypt’s chief of staff Lieutenant-General Mahmoud Hijazi also visited Haftar at Rajmah.
On 27 June, Egyptian army spokesman announced that Egyptian air strikes had destroyed 12 vehicles loaded with heave artillery and explosive material attempting to cross the border into Egypt from Libya. The spokesman stated that the airforce acted after reports that “criminal elements” had assembled to try and cross the western border.
On the same day, Mohammed al-Khadrawi and Mahmud Ben Rajab, both senior commanders in Zawiyya’s al-Farouk brigade who are also prominent with the militias controlling Zawiyya port and Zawiyya coastguard, were detained by authorities in Saudi Arabia while on pilgrimage there and prevented from returning to Libya. Field commander of the Zawiyya coastguard, Abdurrahman Bidja, threatened Serraj and the GNA if it fails to secure their release. On the 26 June the GNA instructed its foreign minister Taher Siala to follow up on the two detained persons with the Saudi authorities.