More than 40 women on their way to Gaza as part of a delegation for International Women's Day staged a sit-in at Cairo International Airport after being refused entry into the country.

Among the participants from the US-based anti-war group Code Pink delegation are US, French and Belgian citizens.

They have been stuck at the airport since Tuesday.

US delegation organiser Ann Wright said that a few activists have elected to return home, while at least three activists had been deported, including 1976 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mairead Maguire.

US activist Medea Benjamin said Egyptian police had fractured her shoulder when she refused to board a plane to Turkey.

Ms Wright said the group had planned to take a bus from Cairo to the Rafa crossing and walk across the border.

Egypt's Gaza border has been closed since last month.

Egyptian airport and foreign ministry officials rejected claims that the activists had been denied entry for any reason other than security concerns.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Badr Abdel-Attie insisted that the security situation in Sinai was too precarious for Egypt to secure the passage of the large group.

He claimed the group had contacted the Egyptian government before travelling and had been told to delay the trip until things had quieted down.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhoum blasted the official decision to prevent the group of women from travelling as "a big step backward in Egypt's support of the Palestinian cause and the Gazan cause in particular."