Egyptian authorities on Wednesday called on militants to unite with Palestinian civilians to official permits from Tunisia to the border with Gaza.
According to the TAP of the state news agency, including about 200 in Algeria, about 1,700 militants set out from Tunisia in buses and cars.
They hope to travel through Libya and Egypt to reach the crossing of Rafa and Gaza in order to protest Israel’s actions in the war.
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in Cairo that activists must submit applications through the Egyptian embassy, Cairo’s foreign mission or directly through the organization.
“Access to border areas must comply with strict regulations and prior coordination through official channels. Requests should be submitted in advance,” the ministry said in a statement.
It added that Egypt stressed that any delegation that bypassed these agreements would not be allowed in.
An Egyptian source said authorities arrested more than 100 militants when they arrived in the country.
Among them are 52 French, 67 Algeria, 13 Moroccan and 8 Libyan nationals.
Since the beginning of the war, procedures for entering the border area with Gaza have been established.
The convoy has traveled through several cities in Tunisia, from there into neighboring Libya. It will continue along the Mediterranean coast to Egypt and finally along Rafa.
Ahmed Ghniyah, the “unwavering” Western coordinator, reportedly received about 400 requests when Libyan volunteers were eager to join the aid convoy.
Militants say they want to use their convoys to draw attention to humanitarian emergencies in the Gaza Strip and protest the Israeli attack.
The plan is to get them on Friday walk about 50 kilometers from the coastal town of Al-Alish to the border crossing point on Rafah. They plan to demonstrate there for a few days starting Sunday.
