An overland aid convoy bound for Gaza crossed into Libya on Tuesday, in an effort to spotlight a crippling Israeli siege on the Palestinian enclave, organisers said.
Consisting of 12 buses and 100 private cars, the convoy of more than 1,000 activists from North African countries set off from the Tunisian capital Tunis on Monday en route to the blockaded territory.
“We crossed through several Libyan cities and are now close to Al-Zawiya, 51 km west of Tripoli,” Mohammed Ameen Binnour, a medical coordinator of the convoy, told Anadolu.
Binnour said the aid convoy was greeted by Libyans on the streets and given a formal salute by Libyan security forces.
The Libyans "also provided the convoy with all kinds of aid, including food, cold water, and other items," he added.
Activists plan to cross from Libya into Egypt by Thursday before reaching the city of Rafah near the border with Gaza.
The convoy comes a day after Israel intercepted a British-flagged aid ship bound for Gaza and detained 12 foreign activists onboard.
As Israel has continued its closure of Gaza’s border crossings to humanitarian aid since early March, aid agencies have warned about the risk of famine among Gaza’s 2.4 million population.
The Israeli army, rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, has pursued a brutal offensive against Gaza since October 2023, killing nearly 55,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war crimes against civilians in the enclave.
