Human rights groups have accused Egypt of a “smear campaign and threats” against an activist group that reported the construction of a walled enclosure in the Sinai bordering the Gaza Strip, AFP reports.

The group had said in mid-February that the enclosure, visible on satellite images, is meant to receive refugees in case of “a mass exodus” from Gaza.

Since then the Sinai Foundation for Human Rights (SFHR) had been targeted by “government and pro-government figures and entities”, 18 rights groups charged in a joint statement.

Among the signatories were Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights. They said the group’s director, Ahmed Salem, had been targeted on social media, in newspapers and on television.