Members of an Irish delegation taking part in a protest march to the border of Gaza have criticised Egyptian authorities for restricting them.
The Global March to Gaza planned for Sunday saw delegations from 54 countries attempt to travel from Cairo to the Rafah crossing to demand that more humanitarian aid is allowed to cross the border.
It follows escalating tensions in the middle east over recent days as Israel and Iran continue to trade attacks.
On Friday, Conor McCarthy from the Unison trade union in Belfast shared a video from Cairo where he said the plan had been for activists to board buses to take them closer to Rafah, which is over 200 miles away.
“Unfortunately, we had no cooperation from the Egyptian authorities and had to make alternative arrangements,” he said.
“Those buses weren’t put for whatever reason and then we had to go to another crossing.”
He said that at this crossing he witnessed people being forcibly detained, being removed from cars and having their passports taken off them.
“We had to make a very quick turnaround in that situation. Now we’re back here in Cairo, calling for the international governments to open up a humanitarian corridor for the besieged people of Gaza and end the genocide.”
Paul Murphy, a People Before Profit TD, had also said his phone and passport was confiscated by Egyptian authorities.
A party spokesperson said that he and others were forced onto buses, and they were being taken to Cairo for deportation.
By Saturday, he managed to post another video online to say all Irish participants in the march had been released.
He alleged that “thousands of others” were subjected to violence from Egyptian police and that others were detained.
“Our focus remains on calling for an end to the blockade of Gaza and the forced starvation of the people in Gaza.”
On Sunday, a fellow PBP member Kellie McConnell with him in Cairo, shared a video to say she had been pulled over in a taxi in Tahrir Square.
“They had our passports, they kept us without telling us what was happening. They had peoples’ passports in plastic bags.”
She said she was then “forced” on to a bus that had no windows, with the Egyptian authorities only telling them they were going for a “surprise.”
Driven back to Cairo Airport, she said she and others were held on the bus for hours until riot police took those on board into the airport to return their passports.
She added that the group was then brought back into Cairo and dropped on the side of the road without explanation or water.
She said that thousands of people in Cairo were still trying to complete the march.
“The people in Gaza are starving, they’re desperate for the world to stand up for them.
“We keep trying, that’s all we can do.”
