FROM OUR REPORTER
CAIRO – “He hasn't answered the phone for four days.” Egyptian human rights activists have expressed concern over the disappearance of a police officer who publicly expressed solidarity with the Palestinian cause in Alexandria.
Abdel-Gawad Muhammad al-Sahlamy was arrested on Friday after waving a Palestinian flag and calling Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi a “traitor and agent.”
Video footage shared online showed 45-year-old Sahlamy standing on a billboard, waving a flag and shouting “I'm not afraid of you, Sisi!” The Egyptian Network for Human Rights (ENHR) says Sahlamy has not been reachable for four days.
The NGO called for Sahlamy's immediate release and warned that it “holds the Egyptian Interior Ministry fully responsible for his life, safety and security.” After October 7, there were protests in solidarity with the Palestinians across Egypt.
On October 20, thousands of people gathered in Tahrir Square, the epicenter of the 2011 revolution: after protests across the country, over 100 people were arrested, and expressions of solidarity from Palestinians have since been limited to small rallies to demand the opening of the square demand the Rafah border crossing and the import of food and relief supplies into the Gaza Strip.
On December 30, four international activists were arrested and held incommunicado for more than 27 hours after they staged a pro-Palestinian protest outside the Egyptian Foreign Ministry in Cairo, demanding security clearance for the Global Conscience Convoy – a humanitarian convoy in Gaza, which was organized by the Egyptian Journalists Union to bring help to the Strip.
Egypt shares a border with Gaza but has not yet opened it to the transport of aid to the besieged area. All aid entering the besieged area from Egypt through the Rafah crossing must pass through Israeli checks before being allowed in, with many aid trucks being held at the border.