The event was in support of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement. The outcome of the movement's goals would result in Israel's destruction. Within hours of the October 7, 2023, terror attacks, the BDS movement renewed its call for an anti-Israel boycott.

Israel and Egypt implemented a UN-approved [pp. 39–41] joint blockade of the Gaza Strip in 2011 to stop Hamas from acquiring more sophisticated rockets. Hamas went around the blockade by smuggling weaponry through tunnels under the Philadelphi corridor separating Gaza from Egypt.