Gaza Flotilla Activist Hospitalized in Tunisia Facing Critical Health Conditions During Hunger Strike

Supporters of detained pro-Palestinian activists have protested to demand their release in Tunis, Tunisia. Gaza solidarity activist Wael Naouar has been admitted to hospital more than a month after launching a hunger strike to protest his detention in Tunisia, according to the Gaza Sumud Flotilla organisation to which he belongs.

Bassem Trifi, the head of the Tunisian League for the Defence of Human Rights (LTDH), stated that Naouar was in a very critical health condition and on the verge of death. A prison spokesperson did not immediately comment on Naouar’s case and condition.

The hunger striker has demanded that authorities drop charges of financial misconduct against him and three other activists. The four individuals, including Ghassen Henchiri, Ghassen Boughdiri, and Nabil Channoufi, were arrested in March after being accused of misusing funds raised for the Global Sumud Flotilla, an international campaign seeking to challenge Israel’s blockade of Gaza. They remain in pre-trial detention.

The Gaza Sumud Flotilla released a statement on X noting that Wael Naouar is in the hospital, and Tunisian authorities are refusing to disclose any information with his family or lawyers. The statement added that a judge rejected the appeal against the extension of the detention for the Sumud 4, and the activist was on day 39 of his hunger strike. According to his lawyer, the pro-Palestinian activist had lost more than 20kg (44lb) and was suffering from pain throughout his body.

None of the activists have been convicted of an offence, but they remain under investigation over alleged suspicious financial flows. Previously, at least 11 people were arrested in Tunisia after participating in a protest demanding the release of the jailed activists. The Gaza-bound flotilla set sail last September and was intercepted by Israel, which then detained and deported the activists to the North African country.

Ghassen Bouaazi, a member of the National Committee for the Defence of Sumud Flotilla Activists, reported that Naouar has recently experienced repeated fainting, difficulty breathing, and hallucinations, creating a real danger threatening him. Meanwhile, a Human Rights Watch report documented the weaponisation of financial and criminal investigations by Tunisian authorities against civil society activists. The government denies the prosecutions are political, while President Kais Saied maintains that freedoms are guaranteed, the judiciary is independent, and no one is above the law.