Thousands of activists from 32 countries have joined forces in the Global March to Gaza, advancing toward the Rafah crossing in Egypt to demand the immediate end of Israel’s ongoing genocide and total blockade of the Gaza Strip.

The march, launched Monday, represents a growing global outcry against the systematic destruction, starvation, and displacement inflicted upon Gaza’s civilian population. Protesters are traveling by air, land, and sea, converging in Egypt with plans to camp at the gates of Gaza and confront the world’s inaction in the face of one of the most devastating human-made catastrophes of the 21st century.

“This march is not just a protest — it is an indictment of the world’s silence, and a pledge to break the chains of siege imposed on Gaza for nearly two decades,” said Yahia Sarri, head of the Algerian Initiative for Supporting Palestine and Aiding Gaza.

A Global Uprising Against Genocide

Led by humanitarian convoys like the Caravan of Steadfastness from Algeria, the Global March unites civil society voices from every continent — Muslims, Christians, Jews, secular activists, artists, unionists, doctors, students, and politicians — who have chosen to stand on the side of life, justice, and dignity.

Sarri emphasized that the mission is entirely peaceful and humanitarian in nature, but also a bold political statement: a declaration that the people of Gaza are not forgotten, and the Zionist project of collective punishment will be challenged at every border, every port, and every capital.

From Morocco, Abdelhafid El Sriti, of the National Working Group for Palestine, echoed these sentiments:

“The siege on Gaza is not just a military policy — it is a crime against humanity. Starvation, forced displacement, the killing of civilians with American and European weapons — this is not war; this is extermination.”

Since October 7, 2023, Israel — fully backed by the United States and enabled by the cowardice of complicit governments — has unleashed a genocidal campaign that has left over 181,000 Palestinians killed or wounded, with 11,000 still missing, many buried under rubble that cannot be cleared due to constant aerial bombardment.

Humanitarian agencies have repeatedly declared that Gaza is in free fall: famine has claimed the lives of children. Disease is spreading in overcrowded shelters. Clean water is almost nonexistent. Electricity is gone. Hospitals have been bombed. Refugee camps turned into mass graves. Entire neighborhoods reduced to ash.

Despite legally binding orders from the International Court of Justice demanding that Israel halt its military actions and facilitate humanitarian aid, Tel Aviv continues to act with impunity. The ICJ rulings are ignored. UN resolutions are vetoed or violated. International law has become a paper shield.

From Rafah to the World: A Moral Reckoning

The marchers plan to reach Cairo by Thursday, then proceed to Arish in northeastern Sinai, where they will begin their final journey to Rafah, the only entry point between Gaza and the outside world not fully under Israeli control — but still largely sealed, often with Egyptian cooperation under international pressure.

Demonstrators intend to establish permanent protest camps near the crossing, transforming the area into a beacon of global conscience — and a place of resistance against the normalization of genocide.

“This is the people’s response to the hijacking of the humanitarian ship Madleen, to the drone attack on the Al-Dameer, and to every innocent child buried beneath concrete,” one marcher from Argentina said.

Just one day before the march began, Israeli forces violently seized the Madleen in international waters. The aid vessel, part of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, was carrying humanitarian supplies and international activists, including Greta Thunberg, Irish actor Liam Cunningham, and a French-Arab parliamentarian. All were detained, their ship diverted to the Israeli port of Ashdod.

This follows a May 2 attack by Israeli drones on the Al-Dameer, another humanitarian ship, which caught fire after being struck while carrying aid to Gaza.

“These are acts of piracy. Crimes against humanity. War crimes. And the world’s silence makes it complicit,” said an organizer from Tunisia.

Rising From the Rubble

Inside Gaza, 1.5 million Palestinians — more than half the population — are now homeless, their homes annihilated by U.S.-made bombs. Tens of thousands live in makeshift tents, under tarps, or on the streets amid the stench of death and disease.

Mothers dig through rubble with bare hands. Children cry not for toys, but for food. The elderly wait to die in silence.

And yet, even from this despair rises steadfastness — sumud, as the Palestinian people call it — a refusal to be broken, a defiant stand against erasure.

That is what the Global March to Gaza represents: a refusal to normalize genocide. A global alliance of conscience. A living chain of resistance.

“To the people of Gaza: you are not alone. Your voices are heard. Your pain is shared. And your fight is our fight,” said a statement from the coalition organizing the march.

As the convoys move forward, carrying both aid and outrage, the world watches. And history will judge not only those who dropped the bombs — but those who remained silent. (ILKHA)