The Global March to Gaza was due to begin on Sunday in Arish, Egypt, where some 4,000 protesters were expected to gather and walk through the northern Sinai desert to the Rafah crossing. An estimated 1,500 of them had joined a motor convoy starting nearly 2,000 miles east in Tunisia, while others flew into Egypt.

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.

A planned march protesting aid restrictions on Gaza faced uncertainty after as organizers in Cairo await Egyptian approval and Libyan authorities blocked a convoy of activists.