Convoy sets off for Gaza from North Africa to protest Israel’s blockade
Tunisian-led aid convoy seeks ‘the immediate lifting of the unjust siege’ on Gaza
A convoy of buses and private cars departed for Gaza from Tunisia’s capital on Monday as part of efforts to spotlight Israel’s blockade on humanitarian aid to the territory, even as Israeli authorities stopped a high-profile flotilla from landing there.
The overland effort – organised independently but moved up to coincide with the flotilla – is made up of activists, lawyers and medical professionals from North Africa.
It plans to cross Tunisia, Libya and Egypt before reaching Rafah, the border crossing with Egypt that has remained largely closed since Israel’s military took control of the Gaza side in May 2024.
The Tunisian civil society groups behind the convoy said their aim is to demand “the immediate lifting of the unjust siege on the strip”. They asserted that Arab governments have not pushed enough to end the 20-month war between Israel and Hamas.
After a two-and-a-half-month blockade of Gaza aimed at pressuring Hamas, Israel started allowing in some basic aid last month. Experts, however, have warned of famine in the territory of more than 2 million people unless the blockade is lifted and Israel ends its military offensive.