Osama al-Juwaili

{{Infobox officeholder

| name = Osama al-Juwaili
{{Nobold|{{lang|ar|أسامة الجويلي}}}}

| image = Osama al-Juwaili in 2011.jpg

| office = Minister of Defense

| primeminister = Abdurrahim El-Keib
Ali Zeidan

| term_start = 22 November 2011

| term_end = 14 November 2012

| predecessor = Jalal al-Digheily

| successor = Mohammad al-Bargathi{{Cite web|url=http://www.libyaherald.com/2013/06/27/mohammed-mahmoud-al-barghati-removed-as-defence-minister/|title = Barghathi removed as Defence Minister}}

| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1961}}

| birth_place = Zintan, Kingdom of Libya
(present-day Libya)

| death_date =

| death_place =

| profession = Trainer
Military Commander{{cite news | url = https://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL5E7ML3UX20111122 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160304000139/http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL5E7ML3UX20111122 | url-status = dead | archive-date = 4 March 2016 | agency = Reuters | work = Reuters | title = PENPIX-Ministers in new Libyan government | date = 22 November 2011 | access-date = 22 November 2011}}

| nationality = Libyan

}}

Major General Osama al-Juwaili ({{langx|ar|أسامة الجويلي}}) is a Libyan military officer who served as Minister of Defence in the government of Abdurrahim El-Keib, Libya's interim Prime Minister. Since the formation of the Government of National Accord (GNA) in 2015, al-Juwaili served it as a senior commander, since 2017 being the commander of the Western Military Zone. On 6 April 2019 he became the commander of the joint operations room, created by Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj to coordinate military operations since the start of the 2019 Western Libya offensive.

He fought in the First Libyan Civil War against the government of Muammar Gaddafi. Immediately prior to his appointment on 22 November 2011, Juwali's Zintan Brigade, a band of anti-Gaddafi fighters based in Zintan in Libya's Nafusa Mountains, located and captured Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, one of the former Libyan leader's most prominent sons, in the Libyan Desert.{{cite news | url = http://www.panarmenian.net/eng/news/84561/ | work = PanARMENIAN | date = 22 November 2011 | access-date = 22 November 2011 | title = Gaddafi son capturer Osama al-Juwali appointed Libya Defense Minister}} al-Juwaili is said to be aligned with the Tripoli Revolutionary Council (TRC) led by Abdullah Naker,[http://www.lbbc.org.uk/preston/Misrata%20Militia%20Jan%202012%20(S%20Assynt).pdf Misrata Militia In Tripoli Clashes With Local Group] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151001111305/http://www.lbbc.org.uk/preston/Misrata%20Militia%20Jan%202012%20(S%20Assynt).pdf |date=2015-10-01 }}. Libyan Embassy in the UK. January 2012. who warned in an interview 18 November that his men could overthrow the government even before it was appointed if it failed to meet their demands for representation.[https://web.archive.org/web/20120106135434/http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45834247/ns/world_news-africa/t/libyan-rebel-chief-warns-egypt-over-pro-gaddafi-tv/#.Ty9sFZjPpDI Libyan rebel chief warns Egypt over pro-Gaddafi TV] MSNBC Africa. 31 December 2011.[https://web.archive.org/web/20160304001940/http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7AH00A20111118 Militia warning as Libyan PM forms government] Reuters Africa. 18 November 2011.

Studied "Electronic Support" and Graduated from the Tripoli Military Academy in 1982, he remained to be a trainer at the academy until 1987. He resigned from the army in 1992 with rank of captain. Juwali was then appointed as head of the Vocational Guidance center in Yifrin part of the Libyan Ministry of Workforce and Training.{{citation needed | date = November 2011}} He defected to the anti-Gaddafi forces during the 2011 civil war, becoming the head of Zintan's military council. His uncle was reportedly a deputy governor of the Central Bank of Libya under Gaddafi.

In August 2022, Juwaili was involved in Fathi Bashagha's failed attempt to take Tripoli and overthrow the UN-recognized government of Abdul Hamid Dbeibeh.{{Cite web |title=Libya: Tough Choices After Bashagha’s Failure |url=https://carnegieendowment.org/sada/2022/10/libya-tough-choices-after-bashaghas-failure?lang=en |access-date=2023-01-24 |website=Carnegie Endowment for International Peace |language=en}}