Egypt detains over 200 activists ahead of pro-Gaza aid convoy

The Egyptian authorities have arrested more than 200 activists who had arrived in Cairo to join a planned march to Egypt’s Rafah border crossing and demand breaking the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip.

The organizers said in a statement on Thursday that approximately 4,000 people from more than 40 countries had booked flights to Cairo to participate in the event, and a large number of them had already arrived before the scheduled departure time from Egypt.

The organizers hoped “to work side by side with the Egyptian government” as a key and effective partner, adding that their goal is to demand an end to the Israeli genocide against the Palestinian people.

Activists organizing the convoy revealed that Egyptian security personnel in civilian clothes arrested activists from the hotels where they were staying, interrogated them, and in some cases confiscated their phones. “Some were released, while others remain in detention” they added.

The organizers confirmed in a statement that their legal team is monitoring these cases, noting that they “complied with all legal requirements imposed by the Egyptian authorities”.

The convoy of humanitarian aid dubbed Global March to Gaza set out from the Tunisian capital on Monday with the participation of thousands of volunteers from Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, and Tunisia. According to the organizers; the aim is to raise international awareness of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and provide humanitarian aid.

The participants were scheduled to travel by bus to the city of Arish in the Sinai Peninsula on Friday and continue on foot to the border with the Gaza Strip, where they intend to camp for three days in an attempt to pressure authorities to open the crossing.