Support Surges for the Samud Convoy Targeting the Gaza Siege!

Right, so as the crew of the Freedom Flotilla Madleen still languish in Israeli detention, having been kidnapped in an act of piracy in international waters, the land flotilla they have inspired, the Samud Convoy, has passed from Algeria, through Tunisia, picking up more activists on the way and entered Libya yesterday to great fanfare, with the push onto Egypt underway, at time of writing, hopefully reaching Cairo at some point later today, as long as Egypt don’t block matters, because Israel are demanding President Sisi jump when they tell him too, apparently having issued orders to stop the Convoy.
Whilst this has not been confirmed or denied to the convoy itself, deportations being reported from Egypt imply Sisi may be following Israeli orders and if so, it will detonate any belief that he is truly working towards a solution in the interests of the Palestinians despite the reconstruction plans and mediation efforts that have come from Egypt previously.
Israel for its part though, seems terrified, the IDF having been ordered to defend the Rafah crossing from protesters walking across the desert, unarmed and peacefully, but shining a light on Israeli atrocity in numbers never before seen, but will Egypt actually let them get that far?
Right, so as the genocide of Gaza continues to tighten into an ever growing humanitarian nightmare, a vast movement of people is mounting an unprecedented challenge—not from the sea this time, as with the Freedom Flotilla, but across the scorching deserts and state borders of North Africa. The Samud Convoy, the ground-based, large scale version of the Madleen aid mission, is now surging toward Cairo, with more than 1,500 activists and thousands with even more supporters from over 50 countries flying out to join them in solidarity to break the deadly blockade on Gaza. But as they push forward, they face not just the hostility of Israel at the walls of Gaza, but potentially the cowardice and complicity of Egypt, whose regime appears according to some reports to be more concerned with appeasing Tel Aviv than defending regional humanitarian norms.
The Samud Convoy, Steadfastness as it translates to from the Arabic, is now well over 1,500-strong, left Tunis on June 9, inspired directly by the Freedom Flotilla mission led by the Madleen, much of the crew from which are still being held in appalling conditions in Israel. The convoy features activists, medical workers, students, and journalists travelling by vehicle in a monumental attempt to reach the Rafah Border Crossing, Gaza’s only entry point from Egypt. Despite the political instability of Libya, fears as I certainly had voiced amongst others, the convoy was met yesterday with scenes of jubilation and support upon arriving in the Libyan capital of Tripoli. Crowds handed the activists food, water, and even free fuel to push on towards Egypt—given, despite widespread shortages—illustrating profound grassroots solidarity with Palestine and the people standing up for them at a time of dire need.
Contrary to fears that Libya's conditions might threaten the convoy’s progress, the people there rallied to it instead and I’ve never been happier to have my fears proven wrong. The symbolism is truly staggering when you think about it compared to wealthier western nations especially: a broken country offering more than wealthy, functioning states like ours here in the UK for instance. The convoy now moves on toward Cairo, where thousands more activists have begun arriving by air to join the movement.
Supporters are flying in from 54 countries, aiming to form a single mass of coordinated action. Together with those arriving by land, they plan to assemble in Cairo before embarking on a massive protest march.
Beginning Thursday, the plan is for the convoy—augmented by those thousands of international allies—to travel by bus for 350 kilometres from Cairo to Sinai. Once in Sinai, they will begin a gruelling three-day walk across 50 kilometres of desert, culminating in their arrival at Rafah on Sunday. That day will mark the beginning of a large-scale, multi-day protest titled “March of the Free.”
Their core demands are:
• An immediate end to the siege of Gaza
• Full access for humanitarian aid
• Accountability for Israeli war crimes
• Protection of the sovereignty of protest and civil resistance
• Global pressure on governments to stop enabling Israel’s occupation
What began as a symbolic mission is becoming a massive logistical and moral campaign. And that very scale is precisely what is terrifying Israel so much.
Israeli officials, sensing the convoy’s potential to shine a further global spotlight on their siege, their genocide and their war of starvation have responded not with diplomacy but with escalating threats and these have not so much been aimed at the convoy, but at Egypt. Defence Minister Israel Katz has already announced that the IDF will not allow anyone to breach the blockade and is preparing forces to stop all movement toward Gaza. But his most alarming move has been diplomatic coercion—pressuring Egypt to ban the march entirely.
Katz has openly claimed that Egypt has agreed to suppress the march. But organizers say they have received no confirmation or denial of this claim from Cairo, raising fears that President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s government may be preparing to quietly betray the convoy and bend to Israel’s will.
This is no longer idle speculation either. Reports have emerged that Egypt has already begun deporting people who arrived to join the march, particularly those suspected of associating with the convoy. According to Quds News Network, authorities are acting pre-emptively out of fear that growing numbers of international activists could “destabilize” the region or provoke Israeli retaliation. But this deportation effort reveals more than a security concern—it reflects deep political cowardice.
For years, President Sisi has attempted to cast himself as a diplomatic bridge between Israel and Palestine, a regional actor capable of dialogue with all sides. But Egypt’s long cooperation with Israeli border control, his allowing of Israel to violate peace accords with Egypt and a statement released by the Resistance News Network appears to back this up:
‘Multiple sources corroborated reports that the Egyptian government has begun deporting members of the Resilience Convoy who had arrived in Cairo by plane, primarily from Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and France.
Egyptian authorities stormed two hotels in Cairo after which dozens of activists were arrested, interrogated, and held against their wills pending deportation.
This tactic of arresting righteous people who are answering Gaza’s cries to the free people of the world, and deporting them before they can deliver their aid, is not new. It bears a striking resemblance to the abuse faced by the activists aboard the “Madleen,” a ship of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition which the zionists stormed, kidnapping its crew before deporting them. The passengers of the “Madleen” were also forced to watch zionist propaganda videos while in captivity.
For its part, the Egyptian government issued a statement asking those who arrive as part of the Resilience Convoy to go through “proper channels” and obtain approval to head to the Rafah border crossing. No such permission has been granted.
The Egyptian regime is a shameful and zionist regime. Despite their diplomatic language and supposed position as a “mediator,” they have time and time again sided with the zionist entity. This takes place with every moment that Egyptian authorities prevent humanitarian aid from reaching the Gaza Strip, where millions of people are confronting famine.’
Now, with the Samud Convoy drawing closer, Egypt is being tested like never before—and by the look of it is failing. Instead of allowing peaceful protest, it is allegedly conducting deportations, refusing transit, and potentially preparing to block the convoy from crossing into Sinai. These moves are not acts of sovereignty, but of submission to Israeli pressure and they’ll be seen exactly for just that.
While the convoy marches on for however far it manages to get at this point in time, the fate of the Madleen’s detained crew remains dire.
Although some were quickly deported, questions surrounding whether they willingly signed deportation orders or not, others refused to sign deportation orders, asserting their legal right to protest and deliver aid and have been incarcerated.
Thiago Ávila, the Brazilian climate activist, is currently held in Ayalon Prison, in solitary confinement. According to his legal representatives, he has been on hunger-and-thirst strike since 4am on Monday and is being denied adequate medical supervision.
Rima Hassan, a French Member of the European Parliament, was reportedly punished for writing “Free Palestine” on her cell wall and also placed in solitary confinement. She has also begun a hunger strike now.
Other detainees were reportedly mocked, humiliated, and forcibly shown violent footage of attacks during interrogations. They have been locked in bug-infested cells, denied legal counsel, and subjected to hours of sleep deprivation.
The latest news on their well-being, according to the Freedom Flotilla Coalition themselves yesterday states that:
‘We have just been informed that Rima has been moved from solitary back to Givon. Thiago remains in solitary.
News as of 6pm Jerusalem time: Thiago Ávila and Rima Hassan are now held in solitary confinement under punitive and inhumane conditions: Thiago was placed in isolation in Ayalon Prison due to his ongoing hunger and thirst strike, which he began two days ago. He has also been treated aggressively by prison authorities, although this has not escalated to physical assault.
Rima Hassan was placed in isolation under inhumane conditions in Neve Tirza Prison after writing “Free Palestine” on a wall in Givon Prison. She was moved to a small, windowless cell with extremely poor hygienic conditions and has been denied access to the prison yard. The others remain illegally detained by Israeli authorities. Adalah lawyers demands their immediate release and an end to retaliatory measures.’
Central to all of this humanitarian action is of course a blockade, a blockade of aid, of starvation, hunger weaponised against a captive population, a form of collective punishment therefore a war crime. Israel’s siege of Gaza has reached horrifying levels. Water, food, electricity, fuel, medical supplies—everything is either restricted to aid distribution centres, located in militarised zones, making the very prospect of going there for aid lethal, or it is blocked entirely.
Israeli officials have gone as far as calling their policy a form of “economic warfare,” and recent strikes on aid convoys and humanitarian zones have further highlighted the blockade’s violent intent. In this context, the actions of the Samud Convoy, those joining them in Cairo and the Madleen crew are not symbolic gestures, despite the amount of aid they might be carrying—they are direct confrontations with state-engineered suffering.
What makes the Samud Convoy different is not just its size, but its strategic clarity. The convoy, and those joining it from around the world, understand that aid is not enough. Visibility is power. When a convoy of thousands arrives at Rafah, the world will watch. When they are met by Israeli troops or Egyptian blockade, the moral lines this draws will become undeniable.
Israel is panicking. That is why Katz is trying to blackmail Egypt. That is why Egypt is deporting peaceful activists, seemingly bowing to the pressure instead of standing tall against it. That is why Greta Thunberg was mocked, Rima Hassan locked away, and Thiago Ávila as well. Because fear always lashes out when its grip is threatened.
If Egypt bars the Samud Convoy from entering Sinai, or even Egypt itself and at time of writing the convoy has not yet got that far, it will have publicly chosen the side of siege and starvation. If it allows the march to proceed, it will have taken a first, long-overdue step back toward regional and international legitimacy.
The Samud Convoy must be permitted to complete its march. The siege of Gaza must end, anything less will a global failure to hold Israel accountable for its crimes and those responsible must never be forgiven. Palestine has suffered enough.
As I was finishing up writing this video however, news has broken
that Egypt are indeed conducting mass deportations of people having flown in from the likes of Sweden and Morocco, so it looks like Sisi is backing Netanyahu at this point in time, I will be sure to follow this up as a result, so look out for that. In better breaking news though, the remaining Madleen hostages have literally just been released and will fly home tomorrow, having refused to sign anything Israel gave to them, so great news there to end this video on I’m sure you will agree. You can bet I will follow up both those stories as new details emerge.
For more on the Samud Convoy, how it came into being and its progress thusfar, do check out this video recommendation here as your suggested next watch.
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