Former US State Department official decries efforts to undermine movements showing support for Gaza

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After resigning from the US State Department last year in protest against former president Joe Biden's policies on Gaza, Hala Rharrit is set to participate in the Global March to Gaza from Friday.

About 4,000 people are expected to march from the Egyptian city of from Al Arish to the border with Gaza in Rafah. The trip is expected to take three days.

The march comes after 12 activists attempted to sail to Gaza on board the Madleen aid boat, before they were intercepted and detained by Israel.

The move by the volunteers, including Swedish activist Greta Thunberg and French politician Rima Hassan, was described as "performative", with Israel referring to it as the "selfie flotilla" because those on board posted videos on social media after beginning the journey to Gaza. They also recorded videos that were published online after they were detained by Israeli authorities.

The Global March to Gaza has faced similar criticism. But, speaking to The National before travelling from Dubai to Cairo on Thursday, Ms Rharrit said that showed how some people were "desperate" to undermine public efforts to highlight the worsening humanitarian crisis in the enclave.

"My response to the claim that this is performative is that it's an Israeli talking point that was crafted in an office where they tried to figure out how they can oppose this mass movement and make it look bad," she said. "This shows the desperation. They cannot refute it on matter of substance and deny that there’s hunger on the ground in Gaza."

In 2010, six vessels carrying activists and aid to Gaza were attacked by Israel in the Mediterranean, killing nine of those on board. The incident caused a deep rift between Turkey and Israel.

Last month, a vessel set to carry activists and aid to Gaza was attacked by drones off the coast of Malta. Ms Thunberg was due to board the ship en route to the enclave. "We want to bring attention to the plight of Palestinians and the sad reality is that it takes people with a platform to do that," Ms Rharrit said.

"The point is to continue building momentum and the movement for peace, justice, equality, human dignity and principles that everyone should rally for. This is not 'you versus me', but it is about human solidarity."

The former US official also noted the change in perspective in the west towards Israel, but said governments have to follow the people. Israel "has spent millions trying to convince people that they're not killing civilians ... but I think the people in the world have woken up to the realities and learnt what’s happening in Gaza", she added.

The UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Norway this week imposed travel bans on Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, as well as freezing their assets.

Ms Rharrit said the move reflected the growing anger towards Israel, but that more needed to be done. "The sanctioning of Smotrich and Ben-Gvir is a way of placating the citizens of the UK," she said. "Israel has been implicated in genocide. There should be a full-on arms embargo by any country that abides by international law."