Israeli defence minister orders army prevent pro-Palestine aid convoy from entering Gaza 

Israeli Defence Minister Yisrael Katz has instructed the Israeli army to prevent a convoy of pro-Palestinian activists from reaching the besieged Gaza Strip, and labelled them as “foreign jihadists”.

Katz said he expects the Egyptian authorities to prevent the “jihadist demonstrators” from reaching the Egyptian-Israeli border, and to prevent them from carrying out provocations or attempting to enter Gaza, because that would endanger Israeli occupation soldiers.

He also claimed that the “jihadist demonstrators” also pose a danger to the Egyptian regime and a threat to all moderate Arab regimes in the region.

He added the group shares antisemitic affinities with Hamas and wants to impose radical Islamic ideology across the region, with the support of the Iranian axis of evil.”

The convoy — dubbed the “Maghreb Resilience Convoy” or “Soumoud Convoy” — began its journey on Monday from Tunisia, with more than 7,000 participants and around 300 vehicles.

The protest caravan includes activists from Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya and is expected to enter Egypt on Thursday before arriving at Rafah in the coming days.

The initiative is part of a global movement of thousands of solidarity activists from 32 countries aimed at stopping the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza, breaking the siege, and deliver aid to more than two million Palestinians facing the threat of famine, according to the convoy organisers.