Haftar’s forces arrest Gaza aid convoy in Libya

Forces belonging to Libyan military leader Khalifa Haftar have arrested a number of members of a Gaza aid convoy in the city of Sirte.

According to a statement published by the Global Sumud Convoy Instagram page, last contact with the activists was made at 3.22pm on Tuesday.

“The detained are civilians from Spain, Poland, the USA, Argentina, Uruguay, Portugal, Tunisia, and Italy – doctors and human rights defenders who volunteered to deliver aid and stand with the Palestinian people,” said the statement.

They said the convoy had entered the 5+5 security zone – a contested area established under the Libyan ceasefire agreement signed in October 2020 – to negotiate safe passage to the Gaza Strip.

“They were detained by a security force affiliated with the Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF) and are still being held by Eastern Libyan authorities (GNS),” they added.

The group urged citizens of the listed countries to contact their embassies and demand their release.

A range of activist-led humanitarian missions have been sent to Gaza since the beginning of the genocide in October 2023, with most being intercepted at sea by Israeli forces.

A number have attempted to travel across land to the crossing at the Egyptian border, though these have also faced numerous legal and security obstacles.

Italian news agency Nova reported that Haftar’s forces had transferred the two Italian nationals among the activists to Benghazi.

The two will be treated as “potential illegal migrants” by the authorities in Benghazi, the report said.

“Libyan security authorities have not issued any clarification regarding the reasons for the arrests or the legal status of the detainees,” it added.

Libya has been largely divided since the Nato-backed overthrow of longtime ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

Eastern Libya is controlled by Haftar and his allies, and is backed by the United Arab Emirates and Egypt, while a UN-backed government in Tripoli governs the west of the country.