Inside Cairo’s ‘safety first’ calculus on the March to Gaza

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The Egyptian authorities was cautious and on edge final week after a land convoy of no less than 1,500 pro-Palestinian activists and multiple hundred autos crossed into Libya from Tunisia on June 10 en route to war-torn Gaza. The caravan was meant to pile strain on Israel to raise its assist blockade on the besieged enclave, and to draw consideration to the worsening humanitarian disaster there.  

In latest days, scores of pro-Palestinian activists—together with a gaggle of forty Algerians and two French nationals—have been reportedly barred from entry into Egypt and deported shortly after their arrival at Cairo International Airport regardless of having obtained visas. Hundreds of different campaigners planning to take part in the march have been attacked on June 14 close to a checkpoint in the north-eastern metropolis of Ismailia, the place that they had gathered to watch for a nod of approval from the authorities to journey on to el-Arish. The space between el-Arish and Rafah is assessed as a army zone and stays off limits to vacationers with out prior safety permits.  

Cairo’s strikes to deter the march to Gaza are baffling to many as a result of the worldwide initiative expressing solidarity with Gaza is according to Egypt’s declared place on Gaza. So why is Cairo resorting to extreme measures to nip the motion in the bud?     

An worldwide activist coalition

Organizers, comprising a mix of regional volunteers and worldwide teams towards Israeli occupation, mentioned they have been taking issues into their very own palms “because Arab governments haven’t pushed enough” to finish the battle between Israel and Hamas.  

The regional-based “Soumoud” (Steadfastness or Resilience in Arabic) Caravan—comprising volunteers from Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Mauritania, and Libya—was supported by varied Tunisian civil society teams and rights organizations, together with the Tunisian Labor Union and National Bar Association. The activists who began their protest journey in Tunis on June 9, had been planning to journey alongside the Libyan coast and cross into Egypt although the nation’s northwestern Saloum border, earlier than trekking the Sinai to el-Arish to be a part of different worldwide activists on a Global March to the Rafah border crossing—a serious entry level into southern Gaza the place a sit-in had been deliberate June 15 to 19.

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The second worldwide march, organized by the Global Coalition Against the Occupation of Palestine—a coalition of rights teams, commerce unions, and solidarity actions from over thirty-two nations—mobilized 1000’s of rights campaigners from greater than fifty nations to take part in the rally.

More than 55,000 Palestinians have been killed since the begin of Israel’s battle on Gaza following the October 7, 2023, Hamas assaults, and far of the enclave’s 2.1 million folks have confronted the menace of famine underneath Israel’s suffocating blockade. Israel says it’s blocking assist to put strain on Hamas to launch the remaining hostages nonetheless held in Gaza.

A press release launched by the Egyptian Foreign Ministry on June 11 welcomed international delegations however cautioned that anybody touring to Sinai should receive prior authorities permission and adjust to Gaza border rules.

Organizers of the Steadfastness Convoy, in the meantime, mentioned that they had met with the Egyptian ambassador in Tunis prior to their departure to coordinate their entry into the nation however had since obtained no phrase from the embassy. This was regardless of additionally sending an official letter to the embassy requesting help from the Egyptian authorities for his or her mission.

But Cairo was skeptical and made it clear that it opposed the march.

Egyptian opposition

Cairo doesn’t want to provoke the ire of the Israeli authorities, which has made clear it’s opposed to any mass mobilization at Rafah. If the Egyptian management had given the march the inexperienced gentle to proceed, the transfer would have actually escalated tensions between Egypt and Israel, and subsequently, between Cairo and Washington. Worse nonetheless, it could have brought about instability at the border if Israel had attacked the march. 

Israel Katz, Israel’s protection minister, made his nation’s place clear when he publicly referred to as on Egypt to block the Steadfastness Convoy. Katz mentioned, “I expect the Egyptian authorities to prevent the arrival of Jihadist protesters at the Egypt-Israel border and not to allow them to carry out provocations or attempt to enter Gaza.” 

However, there are additionally inside elements behind Cairo’s choice, foremost amongst them being the authorities’ concern of Egyptian protesters becoming a member of the international contributors. Many Egyptians watching the scenes of bloodshed from Gaza over the previous twenty-one months are ashamed of their very own helplessness and their authorities’s failure to cease the battle. Their frustration and despair might spark a brand new wave of unrest that will show troublesome to include. 

The Egyptian authorities has cracked down on protests of any sort, criminalizing demonstrations held with out prior authorization from the inside ministry. At a time of rising home discontent over hovering costs of meals, gasoline, and fundamental commodities, the authorities concern any mass mobilization, as protesters could find yourself directing their anger at the authorities, prompting renewed turmoil and political instability.

Cairo did, nonetheless, enable a uncommon however small pro-Palestinian protest to be held outdoors the Journalists Syndicate on June 12, presumably to enable pro-Palestinian activists to let off steam. Alternatively, the rally might have been a take a look at balloon by the authorities to gauge the degree of public anger over the Gaza battle. Mahienour el-Masry, a rights lawyer who took half in the rally, mentioned the protesters referred to as on the authorities to enable the solidarity convoys to journey to the Rafah border crossing; in addition they referred to as for the crossing to be opened to enable assist to enter Gaza.   

Some authorities loyalists in the media painted the solidarity convoys as a ploy meant to embarrass Egypt and implement Israel and Washington’s plan of displacing Palestinians. They questioned why the activists had chosen to journey to Gaza through Egyptian land as a substitute of sea. Others warned that the convoys are a menace to Egypt’s nationwide safety. The convoys additionally stirred controversy on social media with some web customers suggesting that Islamists organized the Steadfastness caravan in a bid to sow dissent in Egypt, and others shared movies of a few of the convoy’s contributors lambasting the Egyptian president for not permitting the convoys to go via.

Major General Samir Farag, a army strategist and former Head of the Armed Forces Morale Affairs Department, informed me that a few of the activists had obtained vacationer visas prior to their arrival in Egypt however had not disclosed their plan to take part in the march to Gaza.

Farag mentioned, “Egypt has enough internal problems; we don’t need more challenges. We don’t know who these activists are or what they are bringing into the country. The march should have been coordinated with the authorities beforehand.”  

While the convoy’s passage via Western Libya has been clean, traversing jap Libya—which is underneath the command of General Khalifa Haftar—proved more difficult. On June 12, Haftar’s safety forces stopped the caravan in Sirte, demanding extra safety clearances earlier than it was allowed passage to Benghazi. Phone traces and web providers have been reduce off in the space, leaving the protesters incommunicado. The strikes have been possible at Cairo’s behest—Egypt has been a staunch supporter of Haftar, who shares Cairo’s anti-Islamist stance. 

Yasmine Hamrouni, a spokesperson for the Steadfastness Caravan, lastly returned my calls on June 17. She informed me that the activists had determined to return to Tunisia after it grew to become clear they might not be granted entry to Benghazi or Egypt. Both the Libyan National Army and the Egyptian authorities had joined forces to block the march to Rafah.  

Even if the marchers had gotten clearance from the Egyptian authorities, the Israeli Defense Forces would have possible thwarted their efforts.  Eight of the twelve activists who have been on board the Madeleine Freedom Flotilla, which had additionally tried to break the siege on Gaza, stay in detention in Israel, their destiny unsure. Israel deported the remaining 4 activists.

Like the Freedom Flotilla, the Global March too has been stopped in its tracks. Both makes an attempt, nonetheless, sign that  worldwide strain is mounting on Israel to break its blockade on Gaza, described by United Nations spokesperson, Jens Laerke, as “the hungriest place on earth.” 

Whether or not Israel will bow to worldwide strain and alleviate the widespread shortages of meals, gasoline, and fundamental commodities will largely rely on neighboring nations, particularly Egypt’s willingness to cooperate with worldwide rights campaigners. For now, it seems that the Egyptian management shouldn’t be taking any possibilities and won’t hesitate to resort to violence to block “any attempts to destabilize the country.”

As Farag insisted to me: “Egypt’s security comes first.”

Shahira Amin is a nonresident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative, focusing on Egypt, economics, power, water entry, and girls’s points.

Further studying

Image: A younger pro-Palestinian girl waves the Palestinian flag whereas shouting slogans throughout a march organized by civil society, feminist, and human rights organizations, together with Amnesty International and the Tunisian League of Human Rights (LTDH), in Tunis, Tunisia, on June 15, 2025. The march brings collectively dozens of pro-Palestinian demonstrators in help of the worldwide actions, the Global March to Gaza and the Maghreb Resilience Convoy. These humanitarian actions intention to head in direction of the Rafah border crossing in Egypt to raise the blockade of Gaza amid Israel’s ongoing battle in the enclave. Demonstrators additionally name for the criminalization of all normalization of relations with Israel whereas expressing help for the Palestinian resistance. The Global March to Gaza is a civilian-led worldwide initiative, scheduled to start on June 15, 2025, aiming to march from Arish, Egypt, to the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip in Palestine. Two days earlier, a whole bunch of contributors in the Global March to Gaza arriving in Cairo have their passports taken at a checkpoint and are detained and deported to their house nations in Europe and North Africa. (Photo by Chedly Ben Ibrahim/NurPhoto)NO USE FRANCE

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