It has become abundantly clear that an agreement between Hamas and Israel that would ultimately improve the economic and overall situation in Gaza is no longer in the offing, so both sides have begun exploring other options. On Sept. 4, Egypt informed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that the negotiations it was mediating between Hamas and Israel had reached an impasse and would therefore be suspended. Egypt views Abbas as the main culprit in the failure of the talks on the grounds that without Abbas and without a Hamas-Fatah reconciliation, no plan to rehabilitate Gaza is feasible. The Egyptians see Abbas taking control of Gaza as the key for an international plan to save Gaza, but he has not managed to reconcile with Hamas. Still, Egyptian intelligence chiefs directed a warning at Hamas: Egypt would be forced to act if the organization takes actions that rekindle clashes along Gaza's border with Israel.

The warning followed reports that Hamas was planning to resume the mass protests along the Israeli border that it had launched in March. Hamas believes that the demonstrations, which often resulted in violence, were successful in raising international awareness of Gaza’s plight and forcing Israel to consider a deal on lifting or easing its 11-year siege against the territory.

Speaking to reporters on Sept. 4, Yahya Sinwar, Hamas' leader in Gaza, declared that the so-called Great Return March would resume despite a cease-fire agreed to in mid-August with Israel, because they are the only way for the organization and the Palestinian people to express their opposition to Israel and to the push by the United States to strip millions of Palestinians of refugee status and halt funding to them, thus “wiping out” the refugee problem.

On Sept. 7, some 7,000 Palestinian demonstrators massed at the Gaza-Israel border under the slogan “Returning to Palestine – Trump Be Damned.” Unlike in preceding weeks, when small marches and rallies were held to maintain some momentum for activities deemed an effective deterrent against Israel, this time activists urged the crowds to clash with Israeli soldiers and damage Israeli border installations. One Palestinian was killed in the ensuing violence, and dozens were wounded, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. The 17-year-old demonstrator shot dead by Israeli snipers became the 173rd fatality of the Gaza-Israel clashes since March.