Thousands join Tunisian-led aid convoy to Gaza after Madleen seizure
With aid ships blocked at sea, North African volunteers are turning to overland routes in an effort to break the siege
Thousands of North African volunteers launched a mass land convoy toward Gaza on 9 June, aiming to break the Israeli blockade through Egypt
The overland expedition named “Sumud” – meaning resilience in Arabic – is led by Tunisian civil society and includes participants from Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, and Libya.
It follows the seizure of the Madleen, the Gaza-bound aid vessel crewed by 12 international activists, actors, medics, and other aid workers who were intercepted and detained by Israeli forces.
Organizers say Sumud is a response to that blockade at sea – a coordinated attempt to pressure Egypt to open the Rafah crossing and allow the flow of aid and medical evacuations.
The convoy comprises doctors, journalists, unionists, and youth activists, departing from multiple Tunisian cities, including Tunis, Sousse, and Sfax, and is expected to expand as it passes through Libya toward Egypt.
Cairo has not yet issued passage permits, making entry into Gaza uncertain.
The initiative has drawn broad support from leading Tunisian institutions, including the General Labour Union, the Journalists’ Syndicate, and the League for the Defence of Human Rights, with organizers stating more than 7,000 volunteers across the Maghreb have signed up to participate.
Israel’s seizure of the Madleen, part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, drew widespread condemnation from rights groups as the small vessel attempted to deliver aid and draw attention to what the UN has called “the hungriest place on Earth.”
More than 54,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since October. UN officials say the enclave is on the brink of full-scale famine.
As Gaza’s skies remain closed to humanitarian flights and Israel continues to block aid by land and sea, the Soumoud convoy has become a rare regional effort to force open a path – and a test of Egypt’s position in the siege.