An Irish politician has had his phone and passport confiscated by Egyptian authorities while on a march to Gaza.
Paul Murphy, a TD (MP) for People Before Profit-Solidarity, was among a large group of people attempting to reach the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza.
He flew to Cairo on Thursday and set off towards Gaza on Friday.
Mr Murphy said in a social media post: “We have had our passports confiscated and are being detained.
“It seems Egyptian authorities have decided to crack down on the #GreatMarchToGaza.”
My bus and group of marchers has been stopped by the Egyptian authorities and our passports taken.
— Paul Murphy (@paulmurphy_TD) June 13, 2025
They are telling us to get on a bus, but it is not clear where they will take us. We fear they intend to report us to stop us from marching to Gaza. pic.twitter.com/S2h5cCeviC
Mr Murphy said his passport had been confiscated by the Egyptian army, along with the passports of other people in the group who were stopped.
He said those being detained were being asked to board a bus and he believed they were going to be deported.
He added: “We are refusing to board the deportation bus.”
Mr Murphy told the PA news agency that several other Irish citizens were among those who have been stopped.
In a video, he said: “It’s looking worrying that the Egyptian authorities are going to act to prevent our peaceful march to Gaza, to demand that Israel’s blockade of humanitarian aid, of food, of water, of medical supplies, is ended.
“I’m just asking people to redouble their efforts, to get on to your own Government, in Ireland’s case get on to (Foreign Affairs Minister) Simon Harris, your local TD, ask them to pressurise the Egyptian regime to allow us to engage in our peaceful march.”
He added: “The world has watched a horrific genocide for the past 20 months. Since March, a total attempt of starvation.
“And that this a peaceful march to demand that it be ended and demand that western governments stop their complicity.”
Mr Murphy also posted a livestream video on X in which Egyptian authorities could be seen forcibly dragging some of the participants away from a sit-down protest.
The livestream abruptly ended after his phone was taken from him, a party spokesman said.
A post by an administrator on his X account says: “We urgently need Minister for Foreign Affairs Simon Harris to intervene, demand he is freed, his passport and phone returned and the protesters are allowed to peacefully march to Gaza.”