Dozens of Gaza march participants arrested in Cairo, delegations warn against gatherings, protests

Security forces arrested dozens of participants in the Global March to Gaza on Saturday and Sunday, a source working with a human rights organization told Mada Masr on condition of anonymity. 

Among those detained were two organizers of participating delegations, who were arrested early Sunday morning at a hotel in Cairo, the source said. One of the march organizers also confirmed the arrests to Mada Masr, warning that the march’s fate is now uncertain amid security restrictions.

Activists arrived in Cairo last week to join the Global March to Gaza, which aimed to bring around 4,000 activities from over 80 countries to the border town of Rafah, the closest point to Gaza. Organizers said the march’s aim is to call for an end to the war and push the aid piled up on the Egyptian side of the border into Gaza, where Palestinians have been pushed to starvation by Israel’s monthslong blockade of aid and sabotaging of flour distribution. 

But participants were met with an aggressive security crackdown, some as soon as they landed at Cairo International Airport. 

Throughout Sunday, participating delegations circulated warnings from organizers urging activists not to gather in Cairo or engage in any form of protest, following reports of multiple arrests and deportations in recent days.

According to the source working with a human rights organization, most of those detained are French and Swiss nationals. A source at the Canadian embassy in Cairo told Mada Masr that the embassy is aware of reports of Canadian nationals being arrested but could not disclose further details due to Canadian privacy laws.

Earlier on Sunday, World Beyond War Canada announced that the lead organizer of its delegation had been arrested from a hotel the day before. “His whereabouts are still completely unknown,” the group said, adding that another individual arrested alongside him has already been deported. The page also said police had confiscated and wiped the phones of several witnesses to the arrest. Delegation members who reached out to the Canadian embassy received no response.

Before targeting organizers and participants in Cairo hotels, police had already moved against activists who made it to Ismailia. In the early hours of Saturday, they forced a group — mostly Greek and German nationals, along with a 20-member Spanish delegation — to leave their rented accommodations and return to Cairo, according to a source present at the time. 

On Friday, security forces blocked most march participants from reaching Ismailia, detaining them for hours near a checkpoint on the Ismailia Desert Road. Several activists were later assaulted by police and plainclothes individuals. 

Several French activists deported from Egypt arrived back in their home country on Sunday. Before leaving Egypt, they were handed their passports, which had been confiscated by Egyptian police on Friday as they attempted to travel to Ismailia, according to internal delegation communications seen by Mada Masr.