Four Gaza aid campaigners freed after Libya detention

Four pro-Palestinian aid campaigners detained in Libya for about a month have been released, the Global Sumud Flotilla said Wednesday. The group said the activists had been trying to help a convoy reach Gaza by land, part of wider efforts to challenge Israel’s siege of the enclave.

The organisation identified those freed as Achraf Khoja of Tunisia, Matias Rodriguez of Uruguay, and two Italians, Domenico Centrone and Leonarda Alberizia. It said all four had arrived in Tunis and that six other detained activists were expected to be released within 24 hours.

Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said on X that he welcomed the release of the Italian detainees. Tajani said Centrone, Alberizia and Rodriguez, who also has Italian citizenship, had been transferred to Italy’s consul in Benghazi and were due to return to Italy on Wednesday.

Detained while seeking route to Gaza

Amnesty International said the 10 activists were arrested on May 24, 2026, while traveling toward Sirte. According to Amnesty, they were seeking talks with local authorities so their convoy could continue through Libya and Egypt toward Gaza.

Amnesty said the arrests were carried out by an armed group affiliated with Khalifa Haftar’s self-styled Libyan Arab Armed Forces. The rights group described the force as tied to the Libyan National Army, the de facto authority in eastern and southern Libya.

After the arrests, the activists were held in conditions that Amnesty described as enforced disappearance for periods ranging from two to nine days. Prosecutors later questioned them and ordered pretrial detention while investigating an accusation of “assembly without authorization,” Amnesty said.

The Global Sumud Flotilla said the detainees had gone on hunger strike to protest their imprisonment. The group said they were part of a land convoy separate from its maritime effort to reach Gaza.

Part of broader flotilla campaign

The Libya detentions followed a separate confrontation at sea involving activists attempting to reach Gaza. Al Jazeera reported that more than 400 activists were arrested last month in international waters aboard dozens of vessels sailing toward the enclave.

Those vessels were part of a campaign to break Israel’s maritime blockade of Gaza, according to the Global Sumud Flotilla. The arrests prompted protests in several places, including Rome, where demonstrators gathered after activists said Israeli forces intercepted the flotilla near the southern Greek island of Crete.

The Global Sumud Flotilla has framed both the land convoy and sea route as humanitarian efforts to deliver aid to Gaza. Amnesty called for the detained activists in Libya to be released, saying they had been seeking to negotiate permission for the convoy’s passage rather than enter the country unlawfully.

This story draws on original reporting from Al Jazeera.