Egyptian security authorities reported on Monday that the 24-year-old, indentified as Andre Yaacoub, entered northern Egypt’s Taba border crossing without his passport.

Egyptian security authorities reported on Monday that the 24-year-old, indentified as Andre Yaacoub, entered northern Egypt’s Taba border crossing without his passport.

The officials also stated that Yaacoub was trying to reach the besieged Gaza Strip through the Sinai in an effort to fight alongside Palestinians.


Gaza has been blockaded since June 2007, a situation that has caused a decline in the standard of living, unprecedented levels of unemployment and unrelenting poverty for Palestinians.

Yaccoub, also known as Andre Pshenichnikov, is a Jew who immigrated to the Israeli occupied lands from Tajikistan eleven years ago.

Earlier in 2012, he became the center of attention when he announced that he intended to renounce his Israeli citizenship and move to a Palestinian refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.