European Trade Union Network (ETUN) for Justice in Palestine demands an immediate release of human rights delegates that took part in the Global March to Gaza – a peaceful initiative that aims to denounce Israel`s weaponised starvation of the Gaza inhabitants and 20 months long genocide.

Despite coordination with the Egyptian authorities, requesting permits through the proper channels and respecting local laws, the authorities have intensified repression, detention and abuse against the participants

Yesterday, in one of the cafes in Cairo, Egyptian officers arrested, blindfolded and detained a group of Global March to Gaza delegates, among them our member and one of the organisers of the Global March to Gaza – Saif Abukeshek.

European Trade Union Network for Justice in Palestine, which has supported the Global March to Gaza from the beginning – denounces the illegal and violent arrests of Egyptian authorities and calls on all the unions to contact their governments and use all pressure you can bring to bear on the Egyptian authorities to allow the march and release Saif and others immediately.

Israel’s acts targeting and exterminating Palestinians in Gaza breach the Genocide Convention, as affirmed by multiple independent UN mechanisms including the United Nations Commission of Inquiry, UN Experts, major human rights organizations including Amnesty International, and leading scholars including of Holocaust and genocide studies. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in January 2024 that Israel’s attacks in Gaza constitute plausible genocide.

For over three months, Israel has imposed a total and illegal, blockade on food, fuel, and medicine into Gaza, deliberately starving the population in flagrant violation of the ICJ provisional measures and in violation of human rights law, humanitarian law, and the Genocide Convention. This deliberate starvation – used as a tool of war – constitutes a man-made famine and is calculated to bring about the physical destruction of the Palestinian people in Gaza.

We demand immediate release, safe passage and protection for all the members of the Global March to Gaza as well as an end to Israel`s genocide in Gaza.