From left to right: Maya Garman, Mira Pinzi, Samuel Taqui, Lalla Zeinab Bouanani, and Georgette Hein in Cairo. / © March to Gaza
The Committee for a Just Peace in the Middle East (CPJPO) confirmed on Friday that all five Luxembourg volunteers taking part in the March to Gaza have now reunited in Egypt.
One of the volunteers, who initially faced entry issues and was held in Cairo Airport’s transit zone, has since been cleared and allowed into the country. The fifth member of the group, who had departed separately on Thursday morning, has now arrived in Cairo and joined the others.
Patrick Bosch of CPJPO, who is supporting the group from Luxembourg and maintaining contact with them on the ground, confirmed the updated status.“According to their live location, they are now on the outskirts of Cairo,” Bosch explained.
The volunteers, he added, received instructions to travel to Ismailia – rather than Al Arish as originally planned – and are making the journey in two separate cabs. They are accompanied by French journalist Bastien Massa.
The five Luxembourgers are part of a broader international initiative aiming to march across the Sinai desert to the Rafah border in protest of the ongoing humanitarian blockade on Gaza.
With over 200 international activists reportedly detained by Egyptian authorities so far, Bosch suspects that officials may be deliberately targeting a diverse range of individuals to discourage further arrivals.
However, he noted that organisers of the March are in ongoing contact with the Egyptian government, which appears to be cooperating and is understood to have directed the rerouting to Ismailia.
The Egyptian authorities have not yet confirmed whether participants will be permitted to enter the Sinai desert – a highly securitised zone due to its proximity to the Gaza border.
