Caravan of Resistance Returns to Misrata After Being Halted in Sirte
Organizers condemn the arrest of activists, including at least three bloggers who had been documenting the journey since its departure from Tunisia.
The solidarity caravan for Gaza, which departed from Tunisia, has turned back toward the Misrata area in western Libya after being stopped by authorities in the east of the country, who detained 13 participants, according to organizers on Sunday.
Delegations participating in the “Caravan of Resistance” decided to retreat to Misrata, about 200 kilometers east of Tripoli, after eastern Libyan authorities blocked their progress.
Misrata is under the control of the Government of National Unity based in Tripoli, which is in rivalry with a parallel administration in the east, allied with Marshal Khalifa Haftar and headquartered in Benghazi.
According to organizers, the caravan includes over 1,000 Tunisians, Algerians, Moroccans, and Mauritanians and has been under “military siege” since Friday at the entrance to Sirte, a city held by Haftar’s forces.
They claim to have been subjected to a “systematic blockade”, denied food, water, medicine, and communication.
The organizers also condemned the arrest of several activists, including at least three bloggers who had been documenting the journey since it began on June 9 in Tunisia:
- Tunisian Alaa Ben Ammara
- Algerians Bilal Ourtani and Zidan Nizar, known as “Zizou”, according to Algerian researcher Raouf Farrah, based in Tunisia.
Wael Nawar, one of the caravan’s organizers, reported being kidnapped, violently assaulted, and robbed by members of eastern Libyan security forces near Sirte.
On Saturday, he wrote in a Facebook post: “I was kidnapped, severely beaten, and had my money stolen by security elements of the eastern Libyan government near Sirte. We are now returning to the area between Sirte and Misrata to restore communication. We will compile a list of the detained and missing, try to regroup, reinstall the camp, and hold a media briefing.”
In a statement relayed by Tunisian media on Sunday, the Joint Action Coordination for Palestine, the caravan’s organizer, called for the immediate release of the 13 participants still detained by eastern Libyan authorities.
In a video accompanying the statement, the group reaffirmed its commitment to continue toward the Rafah border crossing in Egypt, aiming to break the siege and stop the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian resistance in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Egyptian authorities banned the “Global March to Gaza”, which was expected to include activists from 80 countries, as a number of participants gathered in Ismailia, 45 kilometers east of Cairo.
Dozens of activists from various nationalities were intercepted, some reportedly assaulted, their passports confiscated, and forced onto buses at various checkpoints, according to videos shared on social media or sent to news agencies.
