Egyptian lawyers call to put Netanyahu, other senior Israeli officials on terrorism watch list

Several Egyptian lawyers, activists and journalists have officially this week called on the prosecutor-general to list Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his government members and Israel's army commanders on Egypt's terrorism watch list over the genocide and inhumane crimes committed against the Palestinians in neighbouring Gaza.

On Monday, which marked the first anniversary of Israel's genocidal war on Gaza, the Committee for the Support of the Palestinian People at the Egyptian Lawyers' Syndicate, joined by veteran journalists and human rights advocates, urged citizens, political groups and professional unions in Egypt to join forces and back the demand.

If the Egypt prosecutor general approves the request and lists Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials on Egypt's terror watch list, it's not a legally binding procedure. 

However, award-winning human rights defender and lawyer Mahienour El-Masry, also a committee member, argued in statements to local news outlets that "the move is meant to pave the way for Egyptian citizens to voice their objection over the genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza."

"It is a prelude to several other actions to be taken against the occupying entity [Israel]," she posted on her Facebook page on Tuesday.  

The Israeli embassy in Cairo could not be reached for comment at the time of publication.

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 has since been treating Tel Aviv as a friendly country with strong ties in several areas. Still, tensions have increased after Israel launched its onslaught on Gaza in October last year.

The symbolic demand to list top Israeli officials on Egypt's terrorism watch list came as a number of anti-Israel Egyptian protesters were arrested in the capital, Cairo, also on Monday, and reportedly taken to an undisclosed location for expressing solidarity with Gaza and Lebanon.

The whereabouts of Monday's detainees remain unclear until the publication time, as human rights lawyers' attempts to unveil their location over the past 48 hours have failed.

Dozens of Egyptian activists have been detained for joining pro-Gaza protests over the past 12 months, with many allegedly subjected to enforced disappearance while others were interrogated and accused of terrorism-related charges.