Four Gaza aid flotilla activists released from Libya detention
Global Sumud Flotilla group says six others remain in detention and are expected to be released within 24 hours. Four pro-Palestinian campaigners detained in Libya
Global Sumud Flotilla group says six others remain in detention and are expected to be released within 24 hours. Four pro-Palestinian campaigners detained in Libya for about a month have been released, the Global Sumud Flotilla group has said. In a statement on Wednesday, the organisation said Achraf Khoja from Tunisia, Matias Rodriguez from Uruguay, and Domenico Centrone and Leonarda Alberizia, both from Italy, had all arrived in Tunis. Six others are expected to be released in the next 24 hours, it added.
In an earlier statement, Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani welcomed the news of the released Italians, saying the two, along with Rodriguez, who has Italian citizenship, were handed over to Italy’s consul in Benghazi. They will return to Italy on Wednesday, he said on X. More than 400 activists were arrested last month in international waters on board dozens of vessels while sailing towards Gaza to break a siege imposed on the enclave by Israel. The activists held in Libya were part of a separate group which tried to reach the strip by land.
They had staged a hunger strike in protest at their detention, the Global Sumud Flotilla said. According to Amnesty International, on May 24, 2026, an armed group affiliated with Khalifa Haftar’s self-styled Libyan Arab Armed Forces (LAAF), which is allied to the de facto authorities in eastern and southern Libya, the Libyan Army, arrested the 10 humanitarian activists from eight different countries as they were en route to the city of Sirte to negotiate the convoy’s passage with local authorities.
The activists were seeking approval from the authorities for the convoy to continue the journey through Libya and Egypt to reach Gaza. “Following periods of enforced disappearance ranging from two to nine days, prosecutors interrogated them before ordering their pretrial detention pending investigations into charges of ‘assembly without authorization,'” Amnesty said.
The BriefWire