"After interrogations, some were arrested and others were released."
Thousands of participants intended to travel to Egypt’s Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip to demand humanitarian aid as part of the Global March to Gaza.
March spokesperson Said Abukshek told AFP: “Over 200 participants were detained at Cairo airport or questioned at hotels across Cairo.”
He noted that the nationalities of those detained include American, Australian, Dutch, French, Spanish, Moroccan, and Algerian participants. He said that plainclothes police entered hotels in Cairo with a list of names and questioned activists, and in some cases, seized mobile phones.
“After interrogations, some were arrested and others were released,” he added.
Some were also detained at the Cairo Airport, Abukeshek said. 20 French activists were held at the airport “for 18 hours” in what Abukeshek called an “unexpected” development.
“We’re locked up here in this room with so many people—some 30-40 people,” a German national said in one video seen by the Times. “I called the embassy and they told me their people are trying to figure things out.” The Greek contingent said in a statement that dozens of Greeks were also held at the airport “despite having all legal travel documents, having broken no law and followed every legal procedure in entering the country.”
Israel is under growing international pressure to ease restrictions on humanitarian assistance to Gaza, as the conflict there approaches the two-year mark. The United Nations has described the region as “the hungriest place on Earth.”
On Monday, a new convoy called Soumoud—meaning “steadfastness” in Arabic—departed Tunisia with the aim of reaching Gaza. The convoy plans to travel through Libya and into Egypt, though organizers say Egyptian authorities have not yet granted the required transit permits.
The initiative is being supported by the Global March to Gaza, which reports that roughly 4,000 people from over 40 countries are expected to take part. Many participants have already arrived ahead of the main event scheduled for Friday.
The group plans to travel by bus to El-Arish, located in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. From there, they intend to march approximately 50 kilometers (about 30 miles) toward Gaza’s border. After reaching the site, participants will camp overnight before returning to Cairo on June 19.
Israel called on Egyptian officials to “prevent the arrival of jihadist protesters at the Egypt-Israel border.” These actions “would endanger the safety of [Israeli] soldiers and will not be allowed,” Defense Minister Israel Katz said.
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