Warraq El-Hadar Island witnessed a sharp escalation this morning, Thursday, between the security forces stationed on the island and residents, as the former fired birdshot and tear gas on a wide and intensive scale for several hours to disperse protesters from among the village’s residents, following an assault by a security member on three citizens with a bladed weapon yesterday, Wednesday.
Dozens of the island’s residents gathered on Thursday morning near a police checkpoint inside the village, as security forces are stationed across the island as part of a government plan to force residents to evacuate it. The residents chanted slogans against the eviction decisions and demanded an apology from the officer who assaulted their sons, according to eyewitnesses who spoke to Zawia3.
Videos broadcast by Makram Mahrous, one of the most prominent opponents of the eviction of homes on the island, also showed numerous injuries among residents as a result of the heavy firing of tear gas canisters and birdshot, in addition to the violent treatment of residents by security forces, which greatly fuelled the anger.
Testimonies on What Happened
Commenting, Mahrous tells us that the security forces continue to put pressure on the residents of Warraq Island, confirming that security forces directly assaulted the island’s residents on Thursday morning, in a scenario repeated continuously since 2017 to force residents to leave their homes and comply with the government’s eviction decisions.
He adds: “What happened is that an officer assaulted a young man yesterday evening, Wednesday, which angered the residents, who were promised that the officer would apologise on Thursday morning, but they were surprised by officers carrying bladed weapons attacking three young men. This caused agitation and anger among the residents, who organised protests against these assaults, which the police dealt with violently, firing tear gas and birdshot heavily, in an incident that is among the most violent since the beginning of the crisis.”
For his part, Ashraf Ibrahim, one of the island’s sons who took part in the morning protests, describes the clashes as very violent, resembling “a war”, and tells Zawia3: “We are subjected to violent assaults by security personnel, and today dozens of us fell because of the tear gas canisters and the use of excessive violence against us. Despite that, we will remain on the island and will not leave it to the foreign investor whatever happens.”
He adds: “The police today went too far in using excessive violence against us. The tear gas caused children to suffocate in a number of homes because of its density, and of course the island is besieged from all sides. We are subjected to severe injustice and cannot find a person or body to turn to for protection from injustice. All we want is to stay in our homes and not be forced to leave our land, and we will not leave it even if we are killed inside our homes.”
Ahmed Gamal, a resident of the island, denounces the use of excessive force in dealing with the residents of Warraq, saying: “The authority that is supposed to protect us is the one attacking us in an aggressive and brutal manner, for nothing but our clinging to our land and homes and our refusal to comply with forced eviction orders.” He points out that the clashes were still ongoing at the time of writing this report, while a delegation of families was discussing attempts to calm the situation and stop the assaults by security forces against Warraq residents.
Gamal confirms that Warraq residents are very peaceful, but the government insists on forcing them to leave their homes and their heritage and uses excessive force against them: “All we want is to remain in our area and not leave it, and to stop the violence the security forces have been practising against us for years.”
Citizen Sayed Abdel Salam recounts what happened this morning, saying: “This morning, there was a heavy deployment of security forces inside the island while residents were protesting peacefully to denounce a security member’s assault on the island’s sons. We noticed an intensive deployment of riot control vehicles and Central Security Forces across the island, then the forces surrounded the protesters and hit-and-run clashes began that lasted for hours, during which the security forces fired tear gas and birdshot intensively, injuring dozens of the island’s sons, filling homes completely with gas, and causing children to faint.”
Abdel Salam stresses that the island’s residents will not leave their homes or lands to the Emirati investor and will remain steadfast whatever it costs them, noting that “the island’s residents have waged a long struggle with the authorities to preserve their homes and lands, and will not give them up whatever happens, and the authorities must review their decisions regarding the island, or wipe it out along with those on it.”
Mohamed Ali (a pseudonym for a citizen of the island who spoke to us and preferred not to be named) says that security and government bodies held continuous meetings with representatives of the island during the past period and offered settlements for giving up their land in exchange for about EGP 1,500 per metre, but the residents refused the offer and clung to their land, which provoked the authorities, who resumed the clashes and assaults on the island’s residents more violently than ever. He confirms that a number of residents were injured in today’s clashes, estimating their number at about nine people.
For his part, Sayed Mohamed Ibrahim, a lawyer on the island’s defence team and one of its residents, tells Zawia3 the details of what happened yesterday. He says: “A security member slapped a young man from the island who was inside the authority’s office to complete some paperwork on Wednesday, which angered the residents. On Thursday morning, the police tried to contain the matter, but things got out of hand, and clashes broke out with residents, during which the police heavily fired tear gas canisters and used excessive force, injuring a number of citizens, whom I estimate at about 20 people.”
He adds: “In an attempt to contain the matter, a meeting was held between family representatives and security leaders, which I attended, along with some of the young protesters. We asked the security forces to exercise wisdom and patience in dealing with the demands of the island’s residents, and we also criticised the use of violence against the protesting residents,” noting that the security forces were keen to calm the situation.
Regarding the demands of the island’s residents, he confirms that they consist of not forcing them to leave their lands and homes, treating them as part of the development, granting them alternative housing inside the island, not forcing them to leave it, and dealing with the file flexibly. He points out that some of the officials in charge of the file act wisely, but on the other hand there are those who mistreat the island’s residents.
The Warraq defence lawyer denounces the continued siege of the island and the closure of the ferries on various sides, stressing that the authorities prevent any building materials from entering the island and deal firmly with anyone who tries to bring in any type of building material, which contradicts the rights of citizens, who are entitled to make any repairs or maintenance inside their homes. He also denounces the government’s insistence on displacing Warraq residents, its failure to respond to their legitimate demands, and the deliberate security restrictions against them, stressing that until now the government has not reached any settlement that includes a consensual agreement with residents, although they insist on allocating a 300-feddan plot of land on which to build a residential community for the island’s residents, similar to the “Build Your Home” project, for those who wish to sell their homes, while those who do not wish to sell should not be subjected to means that force them to sell, as matters continue to escalate.
Renewed Clashes
Clashes between Warraq Island residents and security forces had resumed in September 2024 because of the ongoing dispute over the island’s development project, and tensions escalated after some residents attempted to bring building materials in via the ferries despite the security siege imposed. Residents oppose plans to evacuate the island to build a luxury residential project with Emirati funding, and demand fair compensation for their properties, as the Administrative Judiciary Court rejected their request to halt expropriation without adequate compensation.
On 6 September, police confiscated a vehicle transporting tiles and detained its owner before releasing him after residents gathered, a day after the arrest and assault of a formwork carpenter who was working on building a house roof, in addition to the arrest of the house owner; both were released after citizens on the island protested.
Warraq Island is one of the largest Nile islands in Egypt, inhabited by more than 60,000 people, and most of the land has been owned by the island’s residents for decades. However, the Egyptian government considers a large part of it state property, which ignited a dispute that has continued for years. With the acceleration of plans to develop the island and evacuate residents to implement huge investment projects, clashes between residents and security forces resumed in 2024, pushing the situation to the brink of explosion.
The dispute over the ownership of Warraq Island began in 1998, when the government decided to include the island within the scope of nature reserves, meaning preserving its natural growth and preventing human habitation on it. In 2000, the government decided to change the legal status of Warraq and Dahab Island to “public benefit lands”, meaning that legalising the occupation of the land would not be permitted. This decision was met with protests by the residents of the two islands, who numbered nearly 40,000, as they considered that the decision threatened their rights to the land they had lived on for long periods.
The government bases its position on considering the two islands “public utility” lands formed as a result of Nile accumulations after the construction of the High Dam between 1960 and 1970. On the other hand, historians confirm that the two islands existed and were inhabited for decades before the dam was built, as they appear on old maps, and that they witnessed traditional agricultural and urban activities.
In 2002, residents obtained a ruling in their favour on ownership of the island’s land. In 2010, the government announced the demarcation of the administrative borders of 5 governorates, including Giza Governorate, which includes Warraq, and drew up a plan to develop the island, before things calmed down on the island for a few years after the overthrow of the regime of former president Hosni Mubarak (1981-2011).
Tensions between the island’s residents and the government returned in 2017, when the authorities announced plans to develop the island and make it part of a large investment project. Residents objected to these plans, demanding their ownership rights and stressing that most of them hold registered ownership contracts. Despite this, the government began carrying out evictions, leading to a series of clashes between residents and security forces, most notably in August 2022, when residents faced expropriation decisions by force.
In September 2024, clashes resumed after residents attempted to bring building materials onto the island, which was met with security attempts to stop them. Residents stressed that these materials were necessary to restore their homes, but the authorities considered that this hindered the eviction process. Confrontations escalated when security forces prevented residents from crossing, leading to violent clashes.
Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly had directed in June that any attempts at illegal construction on the island be firmly confronted and the return of informal features to it be prevented, while adhering to the set timetables for evicting homes and land, continuing to pay compensation to those entitled, and continuing the development projects aimed at bringing about a qualitative leap in services on the island.
The Cause of the Dispute
The dispute on Warraq Island revolves around 24% of the total area under development, after the Ministry of Housing announced the evacuation of about 993 feddans out of 1,295 feddans, equivalent to 76% of the total development area. The Administrative Judiciary Court had previously rejected a lawsuit filed by the island’s residents in which they demanded a halt to the decision to expropriate the land and buildings they own without granting them adequate compensation or negotiating with them, and taking them by security force in violation of the provisions of the constitution and the law.
Nasser Abu El-Enein, owner of the Warraq Island ferry, says in a statement that most of the residents’ demands are simple and boil down to obtaining an apartment in exchange for an apartment inside the island without bearing any additional costs, as the state offers in its negotiations EGP 7,000 (USD 143.73) per metre of buildings, while it wants to sell it in the new residential buildings it has built on the island at EGP 23,000, which residents reject. The second demand is to obtain 300 feddans of public utility land on which to build a residential community inside the island under the system the state sees fit, to accommodate all the island’s residents, who number more than 100,000.
In 2018, the Cabinet issued Decree No. 20 of 2018 to establish a new urban community on Warraq Island, followed by decisions to expropriate the land needed to build 68 towers in New Warraq City, with a total area of 61,013 feddans, in favour of the New Urban Communities Authority.
On 26 July 2022, the renaming of Warraq Island to Horus City was announced, with the project’s cost estimated at about EGP 17.5 billion and a feasibility study estimating total revenues at about EGP 122.54 billion, while annual revenues reach EGP 20.422 billion for 25 years.
On 9 July 2024, Safwat El-Qalyoubi Group and the Emirati company KSH signed an agreement worth EGP 24 billion to implement a real estate development project on the Nile, which includes building 3 residential and commercial towers and a 5-star hotel. In August, Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly discussed with the Cabinet the urgent plan to develop the island, including improving infrastructure and utilities.
The government allocated EGP 7 billion (USD 144.32 million) to compensate nearly 200,000 citizens living on the island’s land, divided into EGP 6.5 billion to compensate owners of owned and leased agricultural land, EGP 141 million to compensate owners of existing housing units, and EGP 353 million to compensate owners of residential buildings for the value of the land without the building.
With renewed tensions as a result of the pressure exerted on residents of Warraq Island in Giza Governorate to force them to give up their properties of homes and land, in implementation of government directives for the forced eviction of homes and land by the end of this September, the island’s residents have been pushed to organise repeated peaceful protests expressing their rejection of these repressive practices; however, they were met today with severe violence, according to clips circulating on social media and the testimonies of residents we spoke with.
