Around 4,000 people from 80 countries traveled to Cairo with the intention of reaching the Rafah border with Gaza and breaking the humanitarian blockade. However, the co-chair and spokesperson of the march, the Palestinian-born Spaniard Saif Abukeshek, was arrested on Monday, June 16 and deported on Tuesday, June 17, arriving in Rome in the evening. The organization denounced the escalation of illegal arrests, abuses and ill-treatment against the participants, despite having coordinated with the Egyptian authorities and announced the end of the planned actions in Egypt.
The organization detailed that plainclothes officers forcibly removed participants from hotels, cafes and streets without identification or explanation. In one particularly serious incident, on Monday afternoon, June 16, secret police abducted five people, including Saif Abukeshek and Norwegians Jonas Selhi and Huthayfa Abuserriya, while they were in a cafe. The three were blindfolded, handcuffed, interrogated and brutally beaten, Selhi said after their release.
Abukeshek managed to leave Egypt for Barcelona, while Jonas and Huthayfa were transferred to the Cairo airport detention center without formal charges, pending their release. The organization urged the international community to contact Egyptian embassies to demand the release of the detainees and the safe return of those attempting to leave the country peacefully.
The suspension of the march in Egypt came after the organization sent out a press release on Monday afternoon, June 16, assuring that the stage in the country had ended and requesting all participants to return to their countries. Despite this decision, the Egyptian authorities intensified the repression. Judge Pilar Barroso, a participant in the march and member of Judges for Palestine, said that the level of security in Egypt had increased dramatically due to the geopolitical situation and that it was “impossible to do anything else here without risking imprisonment”. The organization estimates that around 300 people have been deported, 14 of them from the Spanish delegation.
Activists denounced the inaction of their embassies, including the Spanish embassy, which according to testimonies did not offer the expected assistance in the face of arrests and harassment. Sumar deputy, Tesh Sidi, criticized the response of the Spanish Embassy in Cairo, which according to her only offered attention for aggressions without further mediation. However, the Spanish delegation affirmed that the consular attention was correct and that they went to the detainees in several cases.
Despite the repression, the organization reiterated that its objectives coincide with those of Egyptian diplomats to end Israel's illegal siege and achieve a permanent ceasefire in Gaza. They consider the crackdown “unnecessary and counterproductive” for Egypt. Abukeshek, before his arrest, and Pilar Barrado emphasized that the “main concern remains the people of Gaza” and that, despite the violence and intimidation, the movement has grown stronger. They affirmed that the Global March to Gaza “is not over, it is just beginning,” and that they will tirelessly explore ways to end the atrocities in Palestine and promote Palestinian life, dignity and self-determination.