July 29, 2008
 IICC
News of the Israeli-Palestinian Confrontation July 22-29, 2008
Confrontations in the Gaza Strip
 Overview 
This past week the lull arrangement was maintained. The terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip refrained from firing at the western Negev towns and villages, and there was a steady from of merchandise into the Gaza Strip.

At the same time, Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad continued their military buildup by holding intensive training exercises, smuggling weapons and military equipment into the Gaza Strip, and manufacturing weapons.

Normal daily life in the Gaza Strip was interrupted by a series of explosions killing and wounding both Hamas operatives and civilians. The explosions showed that Hamas was as yet unable to secure the Gaza Strip. Hamas blamed Fatah for the explosions, which in turn claimed that they were the result of internal Hamas rivalries. In response, Hamas's security forces detained a large number of Fatah members and raided the offices of dozens of Fatah's civilian institutions in the Gaza Strip.