Hamas and other terrorist organizations participating in the return marches have recently been discussing whether or not to continue the marches, and ideas for new formats have been raised. Read more...
On December 13, 2019, return march events were held in three locations in the Gaza Strip instead of the usual five. About 2,200 Palestinians participated, a relatively low number. The Palestinian and Arab media reported that deliberations were currently being held to determine the nature of future return marches.
Isma'il Haniyeh, head of Hamas' political bureau, is currently heading a Hamas delegation visiting a number of foreign countries. Read more...
On December 2, 2019, two senior delegations, from Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), arrived in Cairo. The Hamas delegation was headed by Ismail Haniyah, the head of Hamas’s Political Bureau, and the PIJ delegation was headed by Ziyad Nakhaleh, PIJ’s secretary-general. Read more...
On December 6, 2019, the return march was renewed after a hiatus of three weeks. About 4,200 Palestinians participated. On December 7, 2019, three rockets were fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip. In response the IDF attacked Hamas targets. This past week a senior Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) delegation arrived in Egypt to discuss a lull arrangement. On December 9, 2019, Fatah called a general strike in the Hebron district to protest Israel's plan to build in the city's wholesale market. Read more...
On November 29, 2019, for the third consecutive week, the return march in the Gaza Strip was postponed. The Supreme Authority called on the Palestinians to participate in the return march events this coming Friday (December 6, 2019), whose theme will be "The march continues." Despite the postponement of the march events, several young Palestinian rioters gathered in the southern Gaza Strip and threw Molotov cocktails, IEDs and stones at IDF forces. A field hospital is currently being constructed by an American NGO in the northern Gaza Strip near the Erez Crossing. Its construction has been severely criticized, especially by Fatah. Read more...
On November 12-14, 2019, a round of escalation took place in the Gaza Strip following the killing of Bahaa Abu al-Atta, a senior commander of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ). In response to his killing, the PIJ fired about 560 rockets to Israeli territory. Read more...
