Egypt renews detention of 173 pro-Gaza protesters

Criminal courts across Egypt have renewed the detention of 173 pro-Palestine activists, arrested in connection to nationwide protests held in October last year, after Israel launched its war on the neighbouring Gaza Strip.

Judicial authorities have ordered 45-day detention renewals, pending investigations into 27 separate cases, during procedural sessions on Thursday evening via video conference, reported Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, the Arabic-language sister publication to The New Arab.

"The 173 young detainees, who belong to 20 Egyptian provinces, are facing the charges of being involved in a terrorist group, inciting protests via the use of social media tools, participating in a gathering of more than five people, carrying out a terrorist act and vandalism," the report added

Moreover, according to the report, the detention renewal sessions were held in the detainees' absence, as no investigations or evidence were presented.

Public protests are banned in Egypt without a prior security permit, since the military under the then-defence minister Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi seized power in 2013.

On 20 October 2023, nationwide protests did break out in support of Gaza and the Palestinian cause, including at the Cairo's iconic Tahrir Square, which witnessed the advent of the "25 January Revolution" 12 years earlier. 

Similar other gatherings were held in the following months, witnessing the arrest of participants and organisers; many reportedly faced enforced disappearances, while others were interrogated and accused of terrorism-related charges.

The exact number of detained activists remains unclear till the publication time.

Despite a technical state of peace with Israel since the late 1970s, the Egyptian public has been at loggerheads with their country's successive regimes over normalisation.

Diplomatically and commercially, Cairo treats Tel Aviv as a friendly nation with strong ties in several areas. Still, tensions have skyrocketed after Israel launched its onslaught on Gaza on 7 October last year, killing at least 43,000 Palestinians.