Thousands Of People Are Driving From Tunisia All The Way To Gaza In An Aid Convoy To Break Israel’s Siege
The convoy consists of more than 150 vehicles, including buses and private cars, traveling thousands of kilometers to deliver humanitarian aid and medical supplies.
More than 1,700 people from Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and Mauritania are driving to Gaza in what is called the Somoud — resilience in Arabic — convoy to break Israel’s siege on the strip.
The convoy consists of more than 150 vehicles, including buses and private cars, traveling thousands of kilometers to deliver humanitarian aid and medical supplies, in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza and to urge for Israel to open a humanitarian corridor into Gaza.
The Somoud convoy departed from central Tunis, the capital of Tunisia, on Monday, June 9, traveling through major Tunisian cities before crossing into Libya.
After traversing Libya, the group aims to cross into Egypt to reach the Rafah crossing on the Egypt’s border with Gaza around June 15.
They are scheduled to arrive at the same time as thousands of demonstrators who flew into Egypt from all around the world for the Global March for Gaza, a protest march which departed Cairo and will march all the way to Rafah to demand Israel end its siege on the strip.
There is uncertainty about whether the convoy will be allowed to cross at Rafah despite organizers saying that they have submitted requests to pass to their respective embassies.
Egyptian authorities had made a statement on Wednesday, June 11, saying that it "welcomes" the global pressure on Israel to break its blockade on Gaza but warned that the "foreign delegations" visiting North Sinai need to first obtain permission through submitting an official request either to the Egyptian embassies abroad or in Cairo.
Organizers have said they are willing to camp at border points if blocked to maintain pressure and visibility.
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