Jerusalem: Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has declared the border area with Egypt a closed military zone, citing pressing security concerns, according to local media reports on Thursday.

According to Anadolu Agency, the defense minister made this announcement after a discussion late Wednesday, where he stated, "We are declaring war. Anyone who enters the restricted area will be harmed," as cited by the public broadcaster KAN. The decision follows an agreement between Katz and Shin Bet Chief David Zinni to classify attempts to smuggle weapons through the Egypt border as a "terrorist threat," enabling security services to employ appropriate measures to address the issue.

The daily further reported that the defense minister has ordered forces "to hit any unauthorized entity that infiltrates the forbidden area." The decision emerged in response to what has been described as "massive weapons smuggling operations" along the border. However, Egyptian authorities have yet to comment on these claims from Israel.

In recent months, the Israeli army has stated that it has successfully thwarted several weapon smuggling attempts via drones along this border, although it has not identified the parties behind these actions. Additionally, the Israeli army's recent offensive in the Gaza Strip resulted in the deaths of nearly 69,000 Palestinians and injuries to over 170,000 others before a ceasefire agreement took effect on October 10.