The Spanish consul in Tripoli travels to Benghazi to try to secure the release of Alicia Armesto, from the flotilla

Eduardo González The Spanish consul in Tripoli has traveled to Benghazi, in eastern Libya, to work towards the “prompt release” of Spanish citizen Alicia Armesto, one of the ten activists from the Global Sumud Land movement who were detained on May 24 by local authorities while negotiating permission to cross the area with humanitarian aid to Gaza. “The Spanish consul in Tripoli has been able to travel to Benghazi, where he is currently located, after obtaining authorization from the local authorities,” sources from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told The Diplomat on Monday, June 1. “His trip aims to continue efforts on the ground for the prompt release of the Spanish citizen being held in Libya and to provide her with all necessary protection and consular assistance,” they added. With this objective, the consul has met with the Attorney General and held several meetings with civil and military authorities “and will remain in Benghazi for as long as necessary,” they added. According to the aforementioned sources, the Embassy in Tripoli has been mobilized “from the very beginning,” but “the internal situation in Libya makes the operations in Benghazi more complex.” Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares “is following the case closely, heading the crisis unit,” they confirmed. The Sumud Global Land Convoy was traveling through North Africa, in coordination with the Sumud Global Flotilla's maritime mission, to deliver humanitarian aid to the civilian population of Gaza. According to the Flotilla, the convoy consisted of 230 participants from more than 20 countries, including doctors, engineers, educators, lawyers, and eco-builders, along with seven ambulances, 20 mobile homes, and ten trucks. In the months leading up to the convoy's launch, requests for authorization, permission, and guarantees for safe passage from Mauritania to the Rafah Crossing in Egypt were sent to more than 20 governments, including Libya and Egypt. Egypt responded positively and advised the organizers to coordinate efforts with local Red Crescent organizations, which acted as intermediaries between the Sumud Global Overland Convoy and the authorities in Egypt and Libya. However, when the Overland Convoy was near Sirte, the organizers received a public statement issued by the authorities in eastern Libya on May 14, 2026, demanding that the Overland Convoy transfer the humanitarian aid to the Libyan Red Crescent Society and informing them that only Libyan citizens could escort the aid to the Sallum border crossing, “attributing these orders to the Egyptian authorities.” “In good faith and in accordance with the moral responsibility to ensure that vital aid and specialists reach the besieged population of Gaza as soon as possible,” the Ground Convoy deployed a delegation on May 19, 2026, to deliver its written response to the authorities in eastern Libya, agreeing to transfer the humanitarian aid to the Libyan Red Crescent Society, which would guarantee its delivery through the Rafah crossing. When the agreed deadline passed and no response was received from the authorities or the Libyan Red Crescent Society, on May 24, a ten-member negotiating delegation proceeded to discuss the agreed terms as previously suggested by the authorities in eastern Libya. Instead, they were ordered to board unmarked white vans and travel to an unknown location. “Communication with the negotiators was immediately cut off, and no information about their status was known until the authorities in eastern Libya announced their detention the following day,” when they were accused of violating “entry permit procedures.” The detained negotiators, including two doctors, are: Alicia Armesto Núñez (Spanish, member of the Journalists' Syndicate), Laura Kwoczała (Poland), Jenelle Jones (USA), Dr. María Paula Giménez (Argentina), Dr. Lucas Ezequiel Aguilera (Argentina), Matías Álvarez Rodríguez (Uruguay), Ana Margarida França Santana Baptista (Portugal), Ashraf Khoja (Tunisia), Domenico Centrone (Italy), and Leonarda Alberizia (Italy). Therefore, the Sumud Global Flotilla has called upon the governments of each country whose nationals are among those detained to intervene immediately and unequivocally, and has demanded that consular access be maintained by all relevant governments to the ten detained negotiators. He also called for “full compliance with international humanitarian law, including the protections afforded to civilian humanitarian actors under the Fourth Geneva Convention.”

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