Soumoud Caravan retreats to Misrata area in Libya
A solidarity caravan for Gaza that set off from Tunisia has retreated near Misrata in western Libya after being blocked by eastern Libyan authorities, who arrested 13 participants, organisers said Sunday.
The Soumoud Caravan, meaning "resistance" in Arabic, had planned to cross Libya en route to the Rafah border with Gaza. But its progress was halted near Sirte, a city under the control of forces loyal to Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar, whose rival government is based in Benghazi.
Organisers said the convoy, made up of over a thousand Tunisians, Algerians, Moroccans, and Mauritanians, was placed under a military blockade on Friday. Participants were denied access to food, water, and medicine, and communications were disrupted.
At least three bloggers documenting the journey, Tunisian Ala Ben Amara and Algerians Bilal Ourtani and Zidane Nezar, were among those arrested, according to Algerian researcher Raouf Farrah.
The Joint Action Coordination Committee for Palestine called for the immediate release of all 13 detainees and vowed to continue toward Rafah to "break the blockade and end the genocide of the resilient Palestinian people in Gaza".
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