Thousands of people who travelled from around the world to take part in a 30-mile march to Gaza’s south-western border are currently in limbo.
The Global March to Gaza was due to begin on Sunday in Arish, Egypt, where some 4,000 protesters were expected to gather and walk through the northern Sinai desert to the Rafah crossing.
An estimated 1,500 of them joined a motor convoy starting nearly 2,000 miles east in Tunisia last week, while others flew into Egypt.
But Egyptian authorities said they would not allow people to reach Arish without the necessary permits, and have reportedly deported around 500 people planning to take part.
They include 200 activists – from countries including the US, Ireland, Morocco, Algeria, France and Sweden – who were sent home upon arriving at Cairo airport.
Egypt’s stance is backed by the Libyan government, which halted the motorised Soumoud Convoy inside its territory last week.
Another convoy, known as the Dignity Convoy, attempted to reach Gaza via Lebanon but faced similar obstacles from local authorities.
What is the Global March to Gaza?
The march is billed as a ‘civilian-led’ non-violent protest against Israel’s blockade on aid to the Palestinian territory of Gaza.
Participants aimed to raise awareness through the march itself and then spend three days camped at the Egyptian side of the Rafah border.
Organisers say the movement is intended to ‘create international moral and media pressure’ to fully open the crossing at Rafah.
Israeli forces took control of the Palestinian side of the crossing last year, claiming Hamas leaders were using the area to organise attacks, and heavily restricted its use.
Between early March and the end of May, Israel blocked all crossings at the border, with Palestinian groups saying one in five Gazans are now living in a state akin to famine.
Restrictions were slightly eased last month, with wounded Palestinians allowed to leave and more aid trucks allowed in, but experts say the measures are far short of what is needed to prevent widespread famine.
Will the march go ahead?
The Egyptian government has previously suggested that people who received authorisation would be allowed to travel the route.
It said received ‘numerous requests and inquiries’ but it’s not whether or how many permits have been given.
‘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’, the Egyptian foreign ministry said on Wednesday.
Israel Katz, the Israeli defence minister, has urged Egypt to stop the protesters reaching Rafah, saying they are ‘jihadists’ who ‘endanger the Egyptian regime and constitute a threat to all moderate Arab regimes in the region’.
Egypt has publicly condemned Israel’s restrictions on the Rafah crossing and called for the end of the war, however it has long attempted to maintain diplomatic relations with Israel.
The Sinai was the epicenter of more than a decade of terror attacks by Islamist militants against Egyptian civilians and security forces which ended in 2023 after major efforts by Egypt’s military.
More recently, rocket attacks on Israel by Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon have been used by Israel as a pretext to launch attacks in Lebanese territory.
The Sinai is now treated as a highly sensitive region by Egyptian authorities, who are very cautious about comings and goings in the region.
Who is behind the Global March to Gaza?
The march was organised by an international group of activists led by Saif Abukeshek, a Barcelona-based Palestinian campaigner.
‘Citizens are not okay with them just being silenced [or the] silence toward the genocide’, Abukeshek has said.
It includes South African politician Mandla Mandela, who is a grandson of Nelson Mandela.
Participants include students, aid workers, and long-time campaigners on Palestinian issues.
The organising committee claims to have the support of over 150 civil society organisations, trade unions, and human rights groups from more than 80 countries.
In the UK these include a number of small grassroots charities and the Jewish Voice for Labour campaign group.
The group describes itself as a ‘civic, apolitical, and independent movement’.
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