Egypt has blocked activists taking part in a planned march to Gaza, halting their attempt to reach the border and challenge Israel’s blockade on humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territory before it could begin.

The Global March to Gaza is a civilian-led initiative to march from Arish, Egypt, to the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip beginning on Sunday. Once in Rafah, the goal was to set up a camp and work to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza, provide humanitarian aid to the strip and protest against Israel's actions in the territory.

Egyptian authorities on Friday detained or deported more foreign nationals seeking to join a pro-Palestinian march to Gaza.