A Gaza-bound land convoy organized by the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) dissolved in Libya on Thursday, the group announced. The decision came after local authorities denied the group entry into the eastern half of the country and detained 10 of its members, according to jpost.com.
The convoy, which included 30 vehicles—among them seven ambulances and 20 mobile homes—had departed from Zalitan on May 16. The mission, intended to complement a separate maritime effort to reach the Gaza Strip, stalled outside the city of Sirte.
According to the outlet, GSF members attempted to negotiate passage with the Government of National Stability (GNS), the faction controlling eastern Libya, on May 19. The activists offered to hand over their humanitarian aid to the Libyan Red Crescent for delivery, but the delegation sent to discuss the proposal was arrested.
Authorities cite legal procedures
The GNS Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Monday defending the arrests. The ministry claimed the activists failed to complete required legal procedures or obtain necessary entry permits. While the GNS stated it supports the Palestinian cause, it maintained that border crossings between Libya and Egypt remain restricted to citizens of those nations.
GSF reported that following the arrests, the remaining 200 participants camping near the Sirte crossing were surrounded by unmarked vehicles on Monday night. The organization alleged that participants were physically assaulted and forced to evacuate the site.
The GSF called for international intervention from the nations of the detained activists, which include Spain, Poland, Italy, Argentina, Uruguay, Portugal, Tunisia, and the United States.
In a statement provided to jpost.com, the GSF framed the mission as part of a larger, unified strategy. "The land and sea missions are not parallel efforts that happened to coincide. They are a single strategy operating on multiple fronts simultaneously. We continue because we must," the statement read.
"We explore every pathway available to confront the siege and genocide, because inaction is complicity and complicity has a cost, and that cost is too high," the organizers added. "The flotilla continues. Land actions continue. Legal actions continue. Solidarity continues. Until the siege is broken and every person is free."
This incident follows the interception of a 54-vessel flotilla by Israeli naval forces on May 18 and 19. All participants in that maritime mission were subsequently deported from Israel. According to jpost.com, a previous land convoy attempted the same route in June but was forced to disband after Libyan forces similarly refused to grant passage.
