Israel reopened its commercial crossing with the Gaza Strip on Sunday, a day after a smaller-than-expected Palestinian protest along the volatile frontier, ONA reports quoting Reuters.
In another sign of the confrontation easing - as Egyptian mediators pushed on for a full ceasefire - Palestinians said Israel would on Monday almost double the breadth of Mediterranean waters where they are permitted to fish.
Gaza medical officials said four Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire during demonstrations on Saturday marking the first anniversary of the “Great March of Return” protests.
But while around 40,000 protesters, some hurling grenades and explosives, turned out on Saturday, according to the Israeli military, several signs pointed to pullback from wider violence.
An Israeli military spokesman noted that there had been “significantly less violence” during Saturday’s protest - which organizers had billed a “million person march” - than in past weekly demonstrations.
In addition, hundreds of Palestinian men, some from Gaza’s ruling Hamas group, were deployed in bright orange vests to deter people from going near Israel’s border fence, a frequent flashpoint.
A Hamas official said Egyptian mediators were expected to hold talks in Israel to try to finalize a deal.
Israel, which considers Hamas to be a terrorist group, has maintained an official silence about any pending agreement, a week before a closely contested election in which rocket strikes from Gaza on Israeli border towns have become a main issue.
The crossing had been closed on Monday after a rocket that wounded seven Israelis north of Tel Aviv touched off a two-day surge in cross-border violence.
But trucks carrying food and fuel rolled into Gaza through the reopened Kerem Shalom crossing on Sunday despite the firing of several rockets at southern Israel overnight and Israeli tank fire on Hamas positions in response. No injuries were reported.
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