RABAT – Egypt blocked activists planning to take part in a march to Gaza, halting their attempt to reach the border and challenge Israel’s blockade on humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory before it could begin.
Egyptian authorities and activists both said Thursday that people planning to march across the Sinai Peninsula were deported.
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To draw attention to the humanitarian crisis afflicting people in Gaza, marchers have for months planned to trek about 30 miles (about 50 kilometers) from the city of Arish to Egypt's border with the enclave on Sunday to “create international moral and media pressure” to open the crossing at Rafah and lift a blockade that has prevented aid from entering.
Saif Abu Keshek, one of the activists organizing the march, said that about 200 activists — mostly Algerians and Moroccans — were detained or deported.
But those arriving to the Cairo International Airport on Thursday afternoon were allowed into Egypt, the Spain-based activist added. Organizers have not received approval from Egyptian authorities for Sunday's march and were evaluating how to proceed, he said.
“None of the circumstances compare to what Palestinians and Gaza have to deal with every day,” Abu Keshek said of the ordeal.
An Egyptian official on Thursday said more than three dozen activists, mostly carrying European passports, were deported upon their arrival at the Cairo International Airport in the past two days. The official said the activists aimed to travel to Northern Sinai “without obtaining required authorizations.” The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media.
Sensitivities and security
Egypt has publicly denounced the restrictions on aid entering Gaza and repeatedly called for an end to the war. It has said that the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing remains open, but access to the strip has been blocked since Israel seized the Palestinian side of the border as part of its war with Hamas that began in October 2023.
However, authorities have for years clamped down on dissidents and activists when their criticism touches on Cairo’s political and economic ties with Israel, a sensitive issue in neighboring countries where governments maintain diplomatic relations with Israel despite broad public sympathy for Palestinians.
Egypt had earlier warned that only those who received authorization would be allowed to travel the planned march route, acknowledging it had received “numerous requests and inquiries.”
“Egypt holds the right to take all necessary measures to preserve its national security, including the regulation of the entry and movement of individuals within its territory, especially in sensitive border areas,” its foreign ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.
Israel Katz, Israel’s defense minister, yesterday referred to the protestors as “jihadists” and called on Egypt to prevent them from reaching the border with Gaza. He said they “endanger the Egyptian regime and constitute a threat to all moderate Arab regimes in the region.”
The march is set to begin just days after a large convoy, which organizers said included thousands of activists, traveled overland across North Africa to Egypt.
Marchers detained in Cairo
Activists and attorneys said airport detentions and deportations began Wednesday with no explicit reason given by Egyptian authorities to detainees.
The standoff has put pressure on the activists’ home countries, which are wary of seeing their citizens detained.
A French diplomatic official said France is in “close contact” with Egyptian authorities about French nationals who were refused entry in Egypt or detained to ensure “consular protection.” The participants risked arrest for unauthorized demonstrations in sensitive areas like the Sinai Peninsula, the official added. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly on the sensitive diplomatic matter.
The Global March to Gaza is the latest civil society effort pressing for the entry of food, fuel, medical supplies, and other aid into Gaza. Israel imposed a total blockade in March in an attempt to pressure Hamas to disarm and to release hostages taken in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack that ignited the war in the Gaza Strip.
It slightly eased restrictions last month, allowing limited aid in, but experts warn the measures fall far short.
Food security experts warn the Gaza Strip will likely fall into famine if Israel doesn’t lift its blockade and stop its military campaign. Nearly half a million Palestinians are facing possible starvation, and 1 million others can barely get enough food, according to findings by the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, a leading international authority.
Israel has rejected the findings, saying the IPC’s previous forecasts had proven unfounded.
Israel’s offensive has killed over 52,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, whose count does not distinguish between civilians or combatants.
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Sylvie Corbet in Paris, and Natalie Melzer in Nahariya, Israel, contributed to this report.