CAIRO: Egyptian authorities have detained more than 200 pro-Palestinian activists in Cairo ahead of an international march with the stated aim of breaking Israel’s blockade on Gaza, organisers said Thursday.
As part of the Global March to Gaza, thousands of activists planned to travel to Egypt’s Rafah border crossing with the Palestinian territory on Friday to demand the entry of humanitarian aid.
On Thursday, the march’s spokesperson Saif Abukeshek told AFP: “Over 200 participants were detained at Cairo airport or questioned at hotels across Cairo.” He added that those detained included nationals from the United States, Australia, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Morocco, and Algeria.
Abukeshek said that plainclothes police entered hotels in Cairo on Wednesday with lists of names, questioned activists and in some cases confiscated mobile phones and searched personal belongings.
“After interrogations, some were arrested and others were released,” he added.
At Cairo airport, some detainees were held for long hours without explanation, Abukeshek said, adding that others were deported, without specifying exact numbers.
Twenty French activists who had planned to join the march were held at Cairo airport “for 18 hours”, he said. “What happened was completely unexpected,” Abukeshek said.
Footage shared with AFP showed dozens of people with their luggage crammed inside a holding room at the airport.
“We’re locked up here in this room with so many people — some 30-40 people,” a German national said in one video. “I called the embassy and they told me their people are trying to figure things out,” she said.
The Greek contingent said in a statement that dozens of Greek nationals were among those held at Cairo airport “despite having all legal travel documents, having broken no law and followed every legal procedure in entering the country”.
Cairo’s security chief did not respond to an AFP request for comment.
Pressure
After 21 months of conflict, Israel is facing mounting international pressure to allow more aid into Gaza, which the United Nations has dubbed “the hungriest place on Earth”.
Another convoy dubbed Soumoud, or steadfastness in Arabic, left the Tunisian capital on Monday, hoping to pass through divided Libya and Egypt — which organisers say has yet to provide passage permits — to reach Gaza.
The Global March to Gaza, which is coordinating with Soumoud, said around 4,000 participants from more than 40 countries would take part in the event, with many having already arrived ahead of the Friday march.
According to the plan, participants are set to travel by bus to the city of El-Arish in the heavily securitised Sinai Peninsula before walking 50 kilometres (30 miles) towards the border with Gaza.
They would then camp there before returning to Cairo on June 19.
Israel has called on Egyptian authorities “to prevent the arrival of jihadist protesters at the Egypt-Israel border”.
Such actions “would endanger the safety of (Israeli) soldiers and will not be allowed”, Defence Minister Israel Katz said.
In response, Egypt’s foreign ministry said that while it backs efforts to put “pressure on Israel”, any foreign delegations visiting the border area must receive approval through official channels.
“We will continue despite what happened because the current numbers in Egypt and those expected to arrive are enough to organise this march,” Abukeshek said.
