Cairo: Pro-Palestinian activists attempting to march to Gaza to challenge Israel's blockade on the territory reported being halted on Friday in both Libya and Egypt.
According to Nam News Network, the march, organized by the Global March to Gaza, faced significant obstacles as participants were detained and faced intervention from local authorities.
Forty of the march participants found themselves in a precarious situation when their passports were confiscated at a checkpoint while leaving Cairo. Organizers released a statement detailing that these individuals were being held under difficult conditions, exposed to intense heat and restricted from moving freely. Additionally, another 15 participants were reportedly held at hotels. Video footage later emerged showing Egyptian security forces dispersing spontaneous sit-ins, with allegations of mistreatment towards women protesters.
Florence Heskia, one of the activists, described the situation in a message, claiming that women were mistreated and forcibly loaded onto buses. Another activist, Nadia, recounted that their passports had been seized, and they were being coerced into boarding buses destined for the airport, where they faced deportation.
The Global March to Gaza had initially planned for approximately 4,000 participants from over 40 countries to converge in Cairo, intending to proceed by bus to El-Arish in the Sinai Peninsula and then march 50 kilometers to the Gaza border. The participants were scheduled to camp at the border before returning to Cairo on June 19.
Meanwhile, a separate group of activists known as the Soumoud convoy, which commenced its journey from Tunisia, encountered a blockade at the entrance to the Libyan city of Sirte. The city is under the control of military leader Khalifa Haftar. Tunisian organizer Wael Naouar conveyed through a Facebook video that the convoy, comprising around a thousand activists from Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, and Mauritania, was denied entry and required authorization from Egyptian authorities to continue to Gaza. Despite conflicting reports from security officials regarding permission to proceed, Naouar expressed determination not to retreat.
Amidst heightened security in Cairo, one individual was arrested on Friday as activists attempted to assemble in the city's center. The previous day, the march's organizers reported that Egyptian authorities had detained over 200 activists in Cairo, with some facing deportation and others subsequently released.
Hichem Al Ghaoui, a coordinator for the Global March, expressed surprise at the level of violence encountered, noting the arrests and deportations of many participants. On Wednesday, Egypt's foreign ministry stated its support for initiatives aimed at pressuring Israel but emphasized that any delegations planning to visit the border area must secure approval through official channels.