Hundreds of activists joined a land convoy of buses and private cars, which departed from Tunisia’s capital on Monday heading for Gaza, reported AFP.
The aim of the convoy is to “break the siege” imposed on the Gaza Strip, which has become “the hungriest place on Earth,” according to the UN. While the nine-bus convoy will not bring aid into the enclave, it aims to break the blockade in a “symbolic act.”
The convoy, which carries the name “Soumoud” (steadfastness), involves activists and doctors and is expected to reach the southern Gaza city of Rafah by the end of the week, according to the spokeswoman of the Tunisian Coordination of Joint Action for Palestine, the group organizing the convoy, Jawaher Channa.
The land convoy includes around thousand people from Algeria, Tunisia, Mauritania, Morocco and Libya, with more people expected to join along its journey.
“We are about a thousand people, and we will have more join us along the way,” Channa said. The convoy will travel along the Tunisian and Libyan coasts, before crossing Egypt into Rafah. However, the Egyptian authorities have not yet given permissions for the convoy to cross its borders, Channa said.
The North African initiative follows a similar one by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, in which its Madleen aid boat failed to reach Gaza’s coast as Israeli forces seized it and detained all activists on board.
The boat sailed from Sicily towards Gaza on June 1 to challenge the ongoing Israeli blockade and deliver a small amount of aid, in a symbolic show of support.
Madleen was carrying 12 activists, including Greta Thunberg and Rima Hassan, a French member of the European Parliament. It was carrying a small amount of humanitarian aid, including rice and baby formula.
