Dozens of Maghreb activists held, deported in Egypt over Gaza solidarity mission

Maghreb Resilience Convoy activists are accusing Egyptian authorities of deliberately blocking and forcibly deporting them amid their efforts to reach the war-hit and besieged Gaza Strip as part of a solidarity aid convoy seeking to break Israel’s blockade on the enclave.

Activists have given testimonies detailing security forces’ use of force to prevent them from reaching the northeastern city of Ismailia, which borders the Sinai Peninsula. Passports were confiscated, while some said plain-clothed individuals also resorted to assaulting them, some with water bottles in a bid to disperse them.

Members of the humanitarian aid convoy said they were then forced onto public transport in an attempt to send them back to Cairo. Forces also confiscated dozens of passports belonging to the activists.

Among those detained are at least 30 Tunisians, several Algerians and Moroccans, as well as some European nationals.

The detention of activists didn't just occur in Ismailia but also extended to Cairo, where dozens more were detained before they could embark on their journey to the northeastern city, in hopes of reaching Rafah.

After hours of detention, some activists were deported to their home countries. Others, however, say they are still held in Egypt.

The activists revealed that they were subject to physical assaults by security forces.

During the weekend, videos online showed hundreds of activists in Ismailia staging a sit-in at a checkpoint in the city, in rejection of their deportation.

Activists waved flags from their respective countries, as well as the Palestinian one, and chanted pro-Palestinian slogans.

A few days earlier, activists accused authorities of giving the green light to gangs, known as 'Baltagiya', to block their aid-delivering initiative to Gaza.

In another scene days earlier, a Welsh nurse and member of the Solidarity Convoy was heard pleading with Egyptian authorities in Ismailia: "The Israelis are starving children to death. I beg you, in the name of humanity and in the name of Islam, to stand with your brothers and sisters in Islam. Please allow us to march to Palestine?".

"We were detained for about seven hours, and then security forces violently dispersed the group," one of the organisers told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, The New Arab’s Arabic-language site. Saif Abu Kishk, one of the organisers of the Global March to Gaza. "We're seeing rumours on social media that we came to cause trouble in Cairo," he said.

Another activist, Algerian Ramadan Taazib, said they were due to meet in Cairo on 12 June and head to Arish on the 13th.

"However, the Egyptian authorities became aware of this and deployed heavy security checkpoints".

"Activists were being arrested and their passports confiscated, which allowed a large number of activists of all nationalities to gather, and the situation turned into a protest during which slogans were raised, such as 'Lift the siege on Gaza' and 'Down with Israel'."

Taazib said despite the Egyptian forces' attempts to block them from reaching Gaza, the group considers their mission accomplished following their efforts and the worldwide attention gained for their cause.

Remaining Madleen activists released, on way back home

Meanwhile, the remaining activists from the Gaza Freedom Flotilla have been released and will return to their home countries from Jordan, the non-profit group said on Monday.

The non-profit Freedom Flotilla Coalition confirmed the release of Dutchman Marco van Rennes as well as French nationals Pascal Maurieras and Yanis Mhamdi and said they arrived on Monday afternoon at the Jordanian border.

Before crossing, they met with Lubna Tuma and Afnan Khalifa, attorneys with Adalah, the legal centre for Arab minority rights in Israel organisation.

Adalah said the remaining three will make their way to meet representatives of their respective embassies.

Van Rennes, Maurieras and Mhamdi were detained last week by Israeli naval forces who seized the Gaza Freedom Flotilla vessel while in international waters.

Others arrested were prominent Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and French-Palestinian MEP Rima Hassan.

Thunberg was deported back to Sweden on Tuesday, while Hassan returned to France on Thursday.

Adalah said the activists were subjected to "ill-treatment, punitive measures, and aggressive treatment" during their detention, while two of them were held for a period in solitary confinement.

According to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, the group said that it had submitted several complaints in protest against their treatment," demanding that the Israeli authorities immediately halt it.