Even after the failed attempt by activists led by Greta Thunberg to reach Gaza by boat, a much larger caravan, this time involving North African Arab activists, is claiming it will “break the blockade” that Israel has imposed on Gaza. As of now, though, the so-called Maghreb Resilience Convoy presents a more thorny challenge to Egypt than to Israel.

The convoy of 300 vehicles carrying more than 7,000 activists left Tunisia on Monday on the way to Rafah, a divided city on Egypt’s border with Gaza. After arriving in Libya, the caravan organizers plan to enter Egypt on Thursday and start a three-day walk toward Rafah from Cairo. Some 2,500 activists from more than 50 countries plan to join the group there on June 15. 

Perhaps as a sign of who is behind the march, it is being covered closely by Qatari-owned Al Jazeera and in the Turkish media. Both countries are supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, which President El-Sissi of Egypt sees as a threat to his hold on power. 

“The Egyptians are attempting to find a creative solution to this dilemma,” a Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs Arab world watcher, Jonathan Dahoah Halevi, tells the Sun. Unlike in the rest of the Arab world, in Egypt pro-Gaza protests are sparse and receive almost no press coverage, he says. “If this caravan is allowed to proceed, it would ignite internal unrest, which the government can hardly afford,” he adds.

It is “necessary to adhere to the organizational procedures adopted regarding the visit of foreign delegations to the border area adjacent to the Gaza Strip in light of the delicate situation” there, Cairo’s foreign ministry said in a statement. “The only way to consider these requests is to submit them officially through the Egyptian embassies” in order to ensure “the security and safety of visiting delegations. Any requests received outside the approved frameworks and mechanisms will not be considered or responded to.”

Cairo’s formulation would allow the Egyptian authorities sufficient freedom of action to deal with the situation. Either way, it is “unlikely that the military would allow such a large group to enter the Sinai peninsula, let alone get to the Rafah crossing,” a former diplomat at Cairo tells the Sun. 

Mr. El-Sissi, a former general, in 2014 unseated the elected Muslim Brotherhood-backed president, Mohamed Morsi. He still considers the Islamist group as a threat. Launched in Egypt, the Brotherhood’s most prominent offshoot is Hamas, which has controlled Gaza since 2006. 

After the October 2023 start of the Hamas-launched Gaza war, Egypt steadfastly refused to allow refugees to flee the battle zones into unpopulated areas in the Sinai. Cairo “has no interest in opening up its border at Rafah,” Mr. Halevi says. “If you allow this caravan into Gaza, there might be added pressure to allow Gazans out” into Egypt. 

“I ordered the army to prevent demonstrators from entering Gaza from Egypt,” Israel’s defense minister, Israel Katz, said in a statement Wednesday, adding, “I expect the Egyptian authorities to prevent the demonstrators from reaching the border because they pose a threat to the Egyptian regime and moderate regimes in the region.”

Organizers of the North African caravan, known in Arabic as the Maghreb Sumud convoy, hope to be joined by thousands of activists from Europe and other parts of the Arab world. Several participants said they were inspired by the Ms. Thunberg-led attempt to deliver aid via the Madleen in defiance of the Israeli blockade around the war zone.

Carrying a symbolic amount of aid that amounted to less than a truckload, the Madleen was intercepted by Israel on Monday and taken to the Ashdod port. Its cargo was delivered to Gaza, Israel said, while Ms. Thunberg and four other members of the crew of 12 were sent home. The others onboard refused to sign deportation orders, and are being held in custody pending a trial. 

The mission of the Maghreb convoy is to “establish a permanent and independent humanitarian corridor and rally global public opinion in support of the people of Gaza,” its official statements say. The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine’s representative at Tunis, Saher al Masri, said the group carries “a message of challenge and resilience. This is what the extreme right government of Israel fears.” 

A popular Egyptian commentator, Amal Abdullah, ridiculed the Madleen and its Maghreb caravan followers. “You are trying to tell me that your cause is worthwhile and all you want to do is break the Gaza siege,” she said in an Arabic-language video posting. “So the whole show, with aerial photos and while Al Jazeera broadcasts everything you do 24 hours a day — all this and no one is financing you?”