On Friday, July 5, 2019, the return march was held. About 7,000 Palestinians participated (similar to last week). The level of violence was relatively low, similar to that of previous weeks: Palestinians threw IEDs, sabotaged the security fence, tried to penetrate into Israeli territory and launched balloons. Although most of them had pictures attached, two fires were identified in Israeli territory. (Note: During the week several Palestinians were detained when they crossed the security fence. They had fragmentation grenades, accelerants and a knife.)

This past week there was a significant reduction in the number of incendiary and IED balloons launched into Israel. According to Palestinian reports, that was in exchange for diesel fuel delivered to the Gaza Strip and the extension of the fishing zone. However, several incendiary and IED balloons were launched and threats were issued to renew the extensive launchings and to launch “new things” (possibly drones with explosive devices attached).

The visit of the Egyptian delegation to the Gaza Strip was postponed again. According to reports, the delegation will go to Ramallah in the near future, and then visit the Gaza Strip.

Senior Hamas figures claim Israel does not meet its commitments and threaten to cause the security situation to deteriorate again.

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