Cairo, Egypt – Pro-Palestinian activists seeking to march to Gaza with the stated aim of breaking Israel’s blockade on the territory were stopped Friday in both Libya and Egypt, organisers said.
“They are being held in the heat and not allowed to move,” the statement said, adding that another “15 are being held at hotels”.
The activists are from France, Spain, Canada, Turkey and the United Kingdom, it said.
“We are a peaceful movement and we are complying with Egyptian law.”
The group urged embassies to help secure their release so they could complete their voyage.
It later sent video footage to AFP showing Egyptian security forces intervening to break up impromptu sit-ins.
Women were “molested and carried like cattle onto the bus”, according to a message from Florence Heskia, one of the protesters stuck on the road.
Nadia, another activist, told AFP “they confiscated our passports and are pressuring us to board a bus to take us to the airport where we will be deported”.
The Global March to Gaza had earlier said around 4,000 participants from more than 40 countries would gather in Cairo on Friday to head to the war-devastated Palestinian territory.
According to the plan, participants were 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.
Tunisia convoy
Separately, the “Soumoud” convoy, meaning “steadfastness” in Arabic, which took off from Tunisia, was also stopped Friday morning at the entrance to the Libyan city of Sirte, controlled by the forces of military strongman Khalifa Haftar.
“The caravan was barred from passing through at the entrance to the city of Sirte,” Tunisian organiser Wael Naouar said in a video posted to Facebook on Friday.
The convoy, which is carrying about a thousand Tunisian, Algerian, Moroccan and Mauritanian activists, requires authorisation from Egyptian authorities to reach Gaza.
“So far, we don’t know whether we will be able to pass through or not,” Naouar said.
Some security officials told him they would be able to cross “in a few hours”, while others insisted that “Egypt has denied (passage) and therefore you will not pass,” he said.
“We will not turn back,” Naouar said.
One person was arrested in central Cairo on Friday after activists attempted to gather there amid heavy security presence, according to an AFP journalist at the scene.
On Thursday, the organisers of the Global March to Gaza said Egyptian authorities had detained more than 200 activists in Cairo.
Some were deported from Egypt while others were released.
“We did not expect the violence with which many people were arrested, deported and threatened,” Hichem Al Ghaoui, a coordinator of the Global March, said Thursday on TikTok.
On Wednesday, Egypt’s foreign ministry said that while it backs efforts to put “pressure on Israel”, any delegations visiting the border area must receive approval through official channels.
