A Land convoy set out from Libya to Gaza on Saturday as part of the simultaneous Gaza flotilla effort, according to the Global Sumud Flotilla, with 30 vehicles making the journey from Zalitan to Rafah.
There are 200 participants from 25 countries participating in the convoy, riding 20 mobile homes, seven ambulances or medical transport vehicles, and other locomotives that comprise the motorcade. The delegation includes doctors, nurses, engineers, and builders, GSF said in a press release.
GSF Steering Committee member Ahmed Ghaniya said at a press conference that the convoys’ next destination was Sirte, Libya, with the support of local hosts and the Libyan Red Crescent. The convoy had reached the outskirts of Sirte, where it would set up camp, the Maghred Sumud Organization said on Sunday.
“We are here due to the urgent need of our brothers and sisters in Gaza for relief and aid, and to shine a spotlight on them,” said Ghaniya. “We are on clear paths, and whatever routes are designated for us, we will follow them. Our goal is clear: to reach Gaza and break the siege.”
Ahmet Aydan Bekar – who was on board the MV Mavi Marmara when it tried to breach the Israeli blockade in Gaza in 2010 – appeared to be involved in the land convoy, saying in a statement that no matter how difficult the path, the activist group was resolved to break the Israeli and Egyptian blockade on the Hamas-occupied Gaza Strip.
“We are here to put an end to the injustice being inflicted upon our brothers and sisters in Palestine, for the sake of the thousands of children, women, and men who have been massacred and continue to be killed.
“We are here to urge the world to uplift and amplify the voices of Gaza and do our best to try to break the illegal siege imposed upon it,” said the Turkish national.
“We will keep speaking out, we will keep talking, and we will keep fighting for the oppressed everywhere. God willing, we will meet in Jerusalem.”
Past flotilla participant and Nelson Mandela grandson Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela said on Instagram that the mission was to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza, with a broader goal of opening the free flow of aid into the Strip. He also noted that they demanded the release of all “Palestinian prisoners” and the realization of a “free Palestine from river to sea.”
“We say to the Israeli entity that it doesn’t matter to us how many times we are intercepted, arrested, and tortured. We will not be silenced,” said Mandela.
Mandela and GSF noted that the convoy would move in tandem with a flotilla of 54 vessels that had set out from Turkey on Thursday, as part of a second blockade run after 20 of the activist armada’s vessels were intercepted by the Israeli Navy in April.
Egypt blocks activists from Gaza strip
The newest land convoy is a tenth of the size of the 300-strong Maghreb Resilience Convoy that departed from Tunis in June. The thousands of activists stalled in Sirte, according to France 24, were denied passage by Libyan forces.
Ultimately, the convoy organizers disbanded the convoy and returned to Tunisia, they said on Facebook at the time, relating that Egyptian officials had rejected their proposals to enter the country.
Activists concurrently also attempted a march to Rafah from Egypt, but around 200 participants were arrested and deported upon their arrival at the Cairo airport or at their hotels.
Some activists attempted to protest the Egyptian denial of their march, clashing with security forces outside the Ismailia checkpoint.
The Israeli Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories said on Saturday night that 600 aid trucks entered Gaza daily with humanitarian aid.
“There are no restrictions on humanitarian aid to Gaza,” COGAT said on X/Twitter.
Yonah Jeremy Bob and Mathilda Heller contributed to this report.
