Tunisia – Medical caravan will travel by land to Gaza

Officials and activists from professional and civil organizations revealed today, Wednesday, April 3, 2024, during a press conference that a humanitarian medical caravan would leave after Eid al-Fitr from Tunisia to the Gaza  Strip of Gaza by land, transporting dozens of physicians, nurses, and healthcare equipment.

They revealed that the participants in the caravan are waiting to receive entry visas into Egyptian territory from the Egyptian authorities to determine the final date of their departure.

The head of the orthopaedics department at the Bougatfa Hospital in Bizerte, Mohamed Amin Bennour, said that the caravan will leave in mid-April and will be made up of private means of transport, led by a truck packed with medical care equipment. coming from Tunisia and Libya towards Egyptian territory, arriving at the Rafah terminal, carrying with them volunteers, notably Tunisians, Libyans and Egyptians, surgeons, obstetricians, anaesthetists and nurses, in addition to supporters from the political world, culture, media, content creation and others, to deliver medical, material and moral support to the population of the Gaza Strip.

He emphasised that the organizers have twice submitted visa applications to enter Egyptian territory to the Egyptian embassy in Tunisia, that they will submit a third application, and that they hope to acquire approval from the Egyptian authorities as soon as possible.

For his part, the dean of the National Association of Lawyers, Hatem Mziou, asserted that the caravan is “open to all” and will provide medical, material and moral support to the Palestinian people of the Gaza Strip, and that participation of attorneys in this convoy comes as part of a work of solidarity and support for the Palestinian people and will guarantee the filing of complaints before international courts against Israel, which is committing crimes against humanity and genocide.

For his part, the president of the National Union of Tunisian Journalists, Ziad Dabbar, stressed the significance of making this caravan a success, given the damage caused to hospitals and the lack of medical equipment in Gaza, remarking that the Union of Journalists is communicating with the Egyptian Journalists’ Union and the Palestinian Journalists’ Union to facilitate the arrival of this convoy in Gaza in terms of transit procedures.

The press conference at the House of Lawyers near the Bab Banat Courthouse brought together leaders of several associations and other organizations, the most important of which are the Association of Young Lawyers, the Tunisian League for Human Rights and the Tunisian General Labor Union.