Participants gathered in front of the Municipal Theater in the capital, Tunis, chanted slogans in support of the Palestinian cause, including: "From the river to the sea... Palestine will be free" and "We will stand firm in Tunisia and Palestine."
Videos posted by the Joint Action for Palestine Coordination Committee in Tunisia on its Facebook page showed popular receptions for the convoy as it entered the Ras Jedir border crossing on Thursday morning, passing through Medenine, Gabes, and Sfax.
In Sousse, the Tunisian Alliance to Support Palestinian Rights (a coalition of independent associations supporting the Palestinian cause) distributed sweets to the convoy's participants, while its members held up signs reading, "We are proud of your participation in the steadfastness convoy" and "Breaking the siege... steadfastness and victory."
The Maghreb "Resilience Convoy", aiming to break the siege on Gaza, announced last Wednesday its departure from Libya and return to Tunisia, following the release of the last of the convoy's members, who had been detained by the parliament-appointed government in eastern Libya.
Convoy spokesman Nabil al-Shanoufi told Anadolu Agency in a phone call on Thursday that the convoy was on its way back to Tunisia. He noted that they had set out from the Libyan city of Zliten and were returning to Tunisia after eastern Libyan authorities released the last of the convoy's detainees.
Convoy officials had previously stated that their departure from Libya was "conditional on the return of all detainees." They said at the time, "This is what we have informed all negotiating mediators," without providing further details. Earlier, organizers announced that Libyan forces had halted the convoy at the entrance to Sirte, pending Benghazi's approval for passage.
On Tuesday, the convoy stressed in a statement that it "will not return from Libya to Tunisia until all detained convoy activists have returned," noting that eastern Libyan authorities were holding three Libyans.
Al-Shanoufi confirmed that the three Libyans "were released at dawn on Wednesday. They are: Musab Yousef Al-Faris, Abu Ajila Ali Abu Al-Qatf, and Abdul Hakim Al-Hamrouni."
Last Friday evening, the Interior Ministry of the parliament-appointed government in eastern Libya arrested a number of participants in the convoy, citing the fact that they "did not carry valid passports or any other identification documents," according to the ministry.
From Tunisia, the convoy crossed into Libya and reached the city of Sirte (450 km east of the capital, Tripoli), but retreated to the city of Misrata after the eastern Libyan government refused to allow it to pass through the Musaid border crossing.
From this crossing, the convoy, which included more than 1,500 activists from the Maghreb countries, hoped to enter Egypt via the Salloum crossing and head towards the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip, in protest against the blockade and Israeli war of extermination.
For years, Libya has been in conflict between two governments: one, recognized by the United Nations and based in Tripoli (west), and the other, appointed by the House of Representatives and based in Benghazi (east).
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been waging a war of genocide in Gaza, including killing, starvation, destruction, and forced displacement, ignoring all international calls and orders from the International Court of Justice to halt it.
The US-backed genocide left approximately 186,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing. Hundreds of thousands were displaced, and a famine claimed the lives of many, including children.
