Oct 15, 2025

“The pressure was enormous,” Mahmoud told Drop Site. “We had applied for approval to sail and received no official response—neither acceptance nor rejection. Then, the day before our press conference, the authorities warned that everyone present, including journalists, could be arrested.”

Despite ongoing government threats and intimidation, the organizing committee continued preparations for the Egyptian flotilla to set sail and link up with the GSF as they neared Egypt’s coastline. On September 21, the owner of the boat vanished—disappeared by Egypt’s security forces. A little over a week later, on September 29, three members of the flotilla committee were arrested near their headquarters in Cairo and held in an undisclosed location until their release this past Monday.

The flotilla episode revealed a pattern familiar to Egyptian activists: silence, then intimidation, then disappearance. “There is an invisible red line that no one can cross,” Mahmoud said. “And that line keeps moving closer every day.”

Dozens Remain Imprisoned in Egypt for Palestine Solidarity While Sisi is Hailed as a Gaza Ceasefire Broker

“Gaza used to unite Egyptians. Now it only reminds them of what they've lost—the right to speak, to gather, to demand anything."

^{Drop Site News}