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Pro-Palestinian activists aiming to break the blockade on Gaza have been forced to retreat to western Libya after their convoy was blocked by authorities in the country’s east, organisers confirmed on Sunday.
The group, known as the “Soumoud” convoy—meaning “steadfastness” in Arabic—had travelled from Tunisia and included over 1,000 participants from Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, and Tunisia. Their goal was to reach the Rafah border crossing with Egypt to express solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
However, they encountered resistance in Sirte, a region under the control of eastern Libyan military leader Khalifa Haftar.
Organisers said the group had been under a strict military blockade since Friday, with limited access to essentials such as food, water, and medicine, and that communication had been severely restricted.
Faced with the impasse, the convoy decided to pull back to the Misrata region, which falls under the authority of Libya’s internationally recognised Government of National Unity based in Tripoli.
Activists accused the eastern authorities of imposing a “systematic siege” and criticised the arrest of several participants, including at least three bloggers who had been documenting the march online.
The Joint Action Coordination Committee for Palestine, which organised the convoy, demanded the immediate release of 13 detained members.
Despite the setback, organisers reiterated their commitment to reaching Gaza, describing their mission as one aimed at “breaking the blockade and ending the genocide of the Palestinian people resisting in Gaza.”
In a separate but related development, Egyptian authorities halted another international solidarity effort—dubbed the Global March to Gaza—on Friday.
The initiative had gathered participants from around 80 countries but was intercepted en route to Ismailia, east of Cairo.
According to reports and videos shared on social media, several activists were stopped, beaten, had their passports seized, and were forced onto buses by security forces at multiple checkpoints.
