The leadership of Hamas and Islamic Jihad announced Nov. 1 that they accept the understandings reached with Israel through Egyptian mediation: transitioning to nonviolent demonstrations along the fence while the siege of Gaza is eased. The joint announcement was made at the end of a meeting between the heads of the organizations (including Hamas' military arm) at Hamas political bureau chief Ismael Haniyeh's office in Gaza. The groups decided to give the plan a trial period of six months.

The meeting took place to officially announce the organizations’ acceptance of the arrangement, a decision that was made before they arrived. The goal was to show, at least for the sake of appearances, that the Hamas military arm agreed to the request of the political wing and is prepared to give the Egyptian initiative a chance. 

The mini arrangement was initiated by Egypt after the chances of a broader arrangement were deemed to be nil. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas categorically refuses to enter Gaza and take part in an arrangement despite the enormous efforts expended on it. 

Another of the obstacles to the arrangement is Hamas' unwillingness to give up its demonstrations at the border, out of concern that if the arrangement doesn’t work they would be hard to restart. Thus it was agreed (and Israel seems inclined to accept) that the demonstrations near the fence will continue, though nonviolently.