Egyptian authorities have detained and deported dozens of pro-Palestinian activists planning to take part in a march intended to break Israel’s blockade on Gaza, airport officials and protest organisers have said.
Thousands of activists from around the world have been planning to trek to Egypt’s Rafah border crossing with the Palestinian territory on Friday as part of the Global March to Gaza, demanding the entry of humanitarian aid into the blockaded territory.
But Egyptian officials have been cracking down on international visitors planning to participate in the march, detaining them at Cairo airport and hotels in the Egyptian capital for questioning, and arresting and deporting dozens on Thursday.
An Egyptian official told The Associated Press that authorities had deported more than three dozen activists, most of whom held European passports, on arrival at Cairo International Airport in the past two days.
The official, who spoke anonymously because he was not authorised to brief the media, said that the deported activists had intended to travel to Northern Sinai “without obtaining required authorisations”.
The Reuters news agency reported that at least 73 foreign nationals had been deported on a flight to Istanbul on Thursday, with 100 more at the airport awaiting deportation.
Activists from US, Australia, France questioned
Saif Abukeshek, spokesperson for the Global March to Gaza, told the AFP news agency that more than 200 activists had been detained at Cairo airport or questioned at hotels in the city.
Among those detained were nationals from the United States, Australia, the Netherlands, France, Spain, Algeria and Morocco.
He told AFP that plainclothes officers had gone to Cairo hotels on Wednesday with lists of names, questioning activists, searching their belongings and confiscating their phones in some cases.
“After interrogations, some were arrested and others were released,” he said, adding that some had been deported after being detained at Cairo airport.
A group of Greek activists said in a statement that dozens of their contingent had been detained at Cairo airport “despite having all legal travel documents, having broken no law and followed every legal procedure in entering the country”.
The march’s organisers said in a statement that they had followed guidelines laid out by the Egyptian government, and indicated they would proceed with the march as planned.
“We look forward to providing any additional information the Egyptian authorities require to ensure the march continues peacefully as planned to the Rafah border,” said the statement.
Abukeshek told AFP that the group were still planning to proceed with Friday’s march to the Gaza border.
‘Moral pressure’ to lift blockade
The marchers plan to travel by bus to the city of El Arish in the Sinai Peninsula before walking about 50 kilometres (31 miles) to the border with Gaza. They intend to join a convoy of activists that left Tunisia on Monday, travelling overland to support the action.
The organisers say they aim to “create international moral and media pressure” to open the border crossing at Rafah and lift the aid blockade on Gaza, which the United Nations has described as “the hungriest place on Earth”.
Israel imposed a total blockade in March as part of its war on Gaza, in which it has now killed more than 55,000 Palestinians. It allowed for a limited amount of aid to flow last month, but distribution has been plagued with problems, including deadly Israeli violence against aid seekers, and experts say the volumes are far below what is required.
The Global March for Gaza is the second attempt by international activists to break the siege on Gaza this month, after the Madleen ship attempted to travel to the Palestinian territory by sea with aid on board.
The ship, which had Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, French European Parliament member Rima Hassan, and Al Jazeera Mubasher reporter Omar Faiad on board, was seized by Israeli forces on Monday as it travelled through international waters.
Egypt has denounced the restrictions on aid entering Gaza, and says that its side of the Rafah border crossing remains open, but that the Palestinian side has been blocked by Israel since the war broke out.
Cairo has warned that only those with authorisation will be allowed to travel the planned march route.
“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, whose diplomatic ties with Cairo are a sensitive issue in Egypt, has called on Egyptian authorities to prevent the march from reaching the border.
Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz referred to the activists as “jihadist protesters” on Wednesday, saying their presence at the border “would endanger the safety of [Israeli] soldiers and will not be allowed”.