'A siege to break the siege': Tunisians 'besiege' US embassy over complicity in Israel's Gaza genocide

For more than 40 hours, protesters in the Tunisian capital have maintained a blockade outside the US Embassy, denouncing Washington's role in Israel's genocide in Gaza and the systematic starvation of its people.

The sit-in began on Saturday evening, when demonstrators converged on the diplomatic compound in Les Berges du Lac, an affluent waterfront district just a short drive from downtown Tunis.

Protesters pledged not to leave until all crossings into Gaza are opened, and the blockade is lifted.

The action was called by the Joint Coordination for Palestine, Tunisia's most prominent pro-Palestine coalition, which previously led the Somoud aid convoy to the Egyptian border, and is currently preparing to launch the Somoud aid boat towards Gaza.

Security forces briefly clashed with protesters on Saturday night as they attempted to advance closer to the embassy.

Authorities had closed off all roads leading to the US mission and sealed the surrounding area with a heavy police presence, confining demonstrators to a nearby square.

"This is a siege to break the siege. We refuse to accept the slow extermination of a people through hunger and isolation, aided by the US," said Ghassan El-Hanshiri, a member of the organising committee.

"We will not leave until the blockade is broken," he declared. 

On the first night of the protest, French Member of Parliament Sebastien Delogu joined demonstrators while on a regional visit to the Maghreb.

"I came to stand with the free people of Tunisia in demanding the opening of the Rafah crossing and an end to the siege," El-Hanshiri said during the sit-in.

On a makeshift stage, activists, artists, and prominent figures in Tunisia's Palestine solidarity movement, took turns in delivering speeches and songs condemning the blockade, Washington's military support for Israel, and the silence, if not complicity, of neighbouring Arab governments.

"We are ready to give our lives to see aid flow through", said Nawal Toumi, a leading human rights lawyer.  She also addressed the highly anticipated Somoud aid boat, scheduled to depart from Tunisia later in August.

As of Monday morning, protesters continue their blockade, banging on empty pots and pans (symbols of the famine engulfing Gaza) and chanting "US is destruction, US is terrorism."

Flags of Palestine, Hamas, and Hezbollah were hoisted high, alongside banners reading "expelling the embassy is a duty," and life-sized photos of Palestinian children killed in Israeli airstrikes.

According to Gaza's Health Ministry, at least 115 Palestinians, many of them children, have died from hunger since Israel's war on Gaza began. Most of these deaths have occurred in recent weeks, as conditions have further deteriorated.

The Coordination group announced on Sunday that the protest would continue indefinitely, "to denounce the criminal role the US is playing in the genocidal war against our people in Gaza, and to demand an end to America's war of extermination."

They also called for the release of those detained on the Handala aid boat, including Tunisian activist Hatem El-Aouni, who is currently held by Israeli authorities along other 20 activists. 

Handala carried a shipment of critical humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza, including baby formula, nappies, food, and medicine.

International efforts to broker a ceasefire have repeatedly stalled, while Israel continues to frame its genocide as a fight against the Hamas group.

The territory is now almost completely cut off, with convoys unable to enter, and residents shot at while searching for food or collapsing from hunger.

Humanitarian groups say the blockade has pushed Gaza into a man-made famine, warning of a looming wave of child deaths unless immediate action is taken.

The US has provided Israel with more than $17.9 billion in military aid since the war began, according to a report by Brown University's Costs of War project published last October.

Last week, Tunisian President Kais Saied confronted senior Trump adviser Massad Boulos, the US envoy and father-in-law to Tiffany Trump, during a meeting in Tunis.

In an official video released on 22 July, Saied was seen presenting photographs of starving children in Gaza and telling the envoy, "It is time for all of humanity to wake up and put an end to these crimes against the Palestinian people."

Even some Tunisian activists critical of Saied's domestic policies have praised the move, but they continue to call for stronger action, such as suspending diplomatic visits and freezing relations with Washington, in protest at America's role in the war.