Ms Mulhearn, who was a human shield during the Iraq war, attempted to march with more than 1000 protesters from around the world and more than 50,000 people from Gaza to the Israeli border on December 31 last year.

But the Egyptian government refused to allow the group to do so and instead only 100 were allowed.

Ms Mulhearn said the group would take advantage of the publicity generated from the refusal of this and other protests in Cairo to intensify its work when marchers returned to their own countries.

The scheduled date for the march, which was intended to show support for the residents of Gaza, marked the first anniversary of the Israeli attack and invasion of the Gaza Strip.

Speaking to the Mercury from Cairo, Ms Mulhearn told of the devastation in the Gaza Strip.

“Eighty per cent of people who live in Gaza are dependent on food aid because they are not allowed to import anything into the country,” she said.

“The devastation is enormous; families are forced to live in tents where their houses used to be because 3000 buildings have been destroyed.”

Ms Mulhearn left her job as press secretary to then NSW Labor MP John Aquilina in 2003 to join a protest group after hearing calls for human shields to help stop the impending Iraq War.

Since the bombing of Baghdad in April 2003, the former Rutherford High School student has returned twice to Iraq to undertake humanitarian work.

She has also faced trial and imprisonment for breaking into Pine Gap Military Base in 2005, along with other members of the group Christians Against All Terrorism.