Organizers of march to Gaza say Egyptian authorities beat and detained 3 participants

Organizers of a march to the Egyptian border with Gaza say that three participants were abducted by plainclothes officers in Cairo amid a wave of arbitrary detentions, deportations and abuse by security forces.

Egypt’s interior and foreign ministries did not immediately respond to the allegations. Reuters could not independently verify the reported detentions or conditions.

The Global March to Gaza, launched this month, brought more than 4,000 activists from over 80 countries to Egypt in an attempt to peacefully approach the Rafah Border Crossing and draw attention to Gaza’s deepening humanitarian crisis, organizers say.

Since their arrival, dozens of participants say they have faced airport interrogations, deportations and roadblocks preventing access to the Sinai peninsula, which provides the land route to Gaza.

In a statement today, organizers say three international participants were forcibly taken from a Cairo cafe yesterday by security officers who did not identify themselves. Those named were Jonas Selhi and Huthayfa Abuserriya, both from Norway, and Saif Abukeshek, a Spanish citizen of Palestinian origin and one of the march’s organizers.

The statement says that according to Selhi, all three men were blindfolded, beaten and interrogated. Abukeshek, he says, faced especially severe abuse. His whereabouts remain unknown, while Selhi and Abuserriya have since been deported to Norway, organizers say.