Young Palestinians waving Palestinian flags at the passage of the "Soumoud" caravan near the Ras Jdir border post between Tunisia and Libya, on June 9, 2025. (Credit: Fathi Nasri/AFP)
A solidarity caravan with Gaza, consisting of several hundred Tunisians aiming to reach the besieged Palestinian territory to "break the Israeli blockade," passed through Libya on Tuesday, according to organizers. "Resistance, resistance," "To Gaza we go by the millions," chanted the passengers in a video posted on the caravan's official Facebook page. The convoy consists of 14 buses and around 100 vehicles, carrying "1,500 or 1,400" people, said a caravan spokesperson, Ghassen Henchiri, on Mosaique FM radio, promising a more accurate count once all participants are gathered in Libya. They plan to stay "three or four days maximum" in Libya before heading to Egypt, he told Jawhara FM radio. Henchiri stated that they had not yet obtained Cairo's green light to enter Egyptian territory but mentioned "reassuring" indications.
The caravan named "Soumoud" ("Resilience" in Arabic), closely followed by people in Tunisia, started Monday morning from downtown Tunis. It does not carry humanitarian aid but is intended as a "symbolic act" of support for the Palestinian territory, described by the United Nations as "the hungriest place in the world," according to activist Jawaher Channa, spokesperson for the organizing coalition. Algerian activists are also part of this group, hoping to reach Rafah.
After 21 months of war, Israel is facing growing international pressure to allow more aid to Gaza to address widespread shortages of food and essential goods. The Israeli navy intercepted and diverted on Monday the Madleen, a boat carrying humanitarian aid for Gaza, which was trying to reach the war-torn territory with human rights activists on board, like Swedish Greta Thunberg and left-wing French-Palestinian MEP Rima Hassan.
Israel continues attacks on southern Lebanon, demolishes buildings in Bint Jbeil