Thousands of Egyptians Take to the Streets to Protest Israel’s Assault on Gaza

Protests have broken out across Egypt in response to Israel’s continued bombardment of the Gaza Strip and the lack of access for Palestinians to humanitarian aid.

Egyptians in various governorates took to the streets on 18 October to express their solidarity with the Palestinian people in the face of the ongoing Israeli airstrikes on the enclave that have persisted for the past 12 days.

“If I ask the Egyptians to express their views, then you will see millions of Egyptians ready to demonstrate their rejection of the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza,” Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi stated in a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz on 18 October.

In the governorates of Kafr El-Sheikh, Sharqia, Dakahlia, and Giza thousands of residents participated in marches to condemn Israel’s ongoing bombing of the Gaza sector. Demonstrators also expressed their support for Egypt’s position on the current crisis in Gaza.

مظاهرات حاشدة بميدان الحصري بالسادس من أكتوبر دعمًا للشعب الفلسطيني الشقيق#In_solidarity_with_Palestine#تضامناً_مع_فلسطين pic.twitter.com/ikX1wNTTxp

— CBC Egypt (@CBCEgypt) October 18, 2023

Students from Cairo, Fayoum, Alexandria, Mansourah, and Menoufiya Universities organized solidarity rallies in their respective campuses to denounce the shelling of Al Ahly Arab Hospital in Gaza, which has led to the death of more than 500 Palestinians, mostly elderly, women, and children.

Youth from the National Alliance for Civil Development Work (NACDW) held a demonstration at the Rafah border crossing on the Egyptian side. Hani Abdel Fattah, the CEO of Sona’ Al Hayah Foundation, told Youm7 that there are dozens of young people within NACDW who are present and will not move from the Rafah crossing until aid enters Gaza.

Also, on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing, reporters witnessed aid workers, who had been waiting for six days to deliver relief supplies to the besieged territory, coming together to perform prayers in memory of the hundreds of Palestinians who lost their lives in a strike on a Gaza hospital that occurred on Tuesday.

In his speech today, President Al Sisi issued a dire warning regarding the resolution of the crisis, emphasizing that the ongoing events in Gaza are not solely the result of an Israeli military campaign targeting Hamas but also an effort to coerce Egypt to let Palestinians vacate their land and enter into Sinai.

For the past 12 days, Gaza has been under constant bombing by the Israel Defense Forces. Around 1,300 people, including 600 minors, are still trapped under the rubble. The Palestinian Ministry of Health put the Palestinian death toll at 3,300 fatalities and 10,859 injuries in Gaza, along with 62 fatalities and 1,250 injuries in the occupied West Bank.