Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has again insisted that Israeli forces will not leave the Philadelphi Corridor – a strategically important strip of land in southern Gaza along the border with Egypt.
He told foreign media in Jerusalem that he is “open” to considering alternatives to the presence of Israeli troops along the Gaza-Egypt border, as part of any future permanent ceasefire deal – but that he did not see it happening.
Mr Netanyahu argued that Israeli troops must remain in this buffer zone to prevent weapons and possibly Israeli hostages being smuggled across the border.
Earlier on Wednesday, Mr Netanyahu said conditions for any permanent ceasefire must include “a situation where the Philadelphi corridor cannot be perforated.”
But he also doubled-down on his insistence that Israel needed to keep troops there for its security, describing it as a “red line”.
“And I say: such a deal will kill us.” Making more concessions after Hamas killed six hostages last week would be “illogical”, “immoral” and “insane,” he insisted.
Leaks to Israeli media have described shouting matches between the prime minister and his defence chiefs in meetings, with Mr Netanyahu reportedly accused of not wanting a deal at all.
A growing number of people here appear to believe that the prime minister is playing for time, and that his real goal is to find and kill the Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar, before ending the war.
Mr Netanyahu says he is safeguarding Israel’s security in the face of extraordinary international pressure.
But even getting agreement on the first stage is proving tricky, with many issues still unresolved.
Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister of Israel, has reaffirmed that Israeli forces will not withdraw from the strategically significant Philadelphi Corridor, a stretch of land in southern Gaza that borders Egypt.
While he did not see it happening, he told foreign media in Jerusalem that he is “open” to considering alternatives to Israeli troops stationed along the Gaza-Egypt border as part of any future permanent ceasefire agreement.
According to Mr. Netanyahu, in order to stop the smuggling of weapons and potentially Israeli hostages across the border, Israeli troops must stay in this buffer zone.
In a statement obtained by Reuters, Hamas stated that it was time to apply pressure on Israel and that Mr. Netanyahu’s refusal to leave the Philadelphia corridor is an attempt to undermine the ceasefire agreement.
A situation where the Philadelphi corridor cannot be perforated is one of the prerequisites for any permanent ceasefire, according to Mr. Netanyahu’s earlier remarks on Wednesday. “. .
We’d be willing to consider it, he said, if someone could demonstrate “that they can actually prevent the recurrence of what happened there before, not on paper, not in words, not in a slide, but on the ground, day after day, week after week, month after month.”. “.
However, he went on, “I don’t see that happening […] and we are there until that happens.”. “.
His remarks reveal a tiny fissure in his insistence that Israeli forces would not withdraw from Gaza’s southern border.
Yet he also emphasized once more—referring to it as a “red line”—that Israel must maintain troops there for security.
Others warned that this would ruin the deal, he said. We will be killed by such a deal, I add. “.
He insisted that it would be “illogical,” “immoral,” and “insane” to make further concessions in light of Hamas’s last week’s killing of six hostages.
“There are red lines here.”. They remain the same. We’ll stick with them. “.
A military presence along the border has reportedly been opposed by his security chiefs, including his minister of defense. Instead, allied forces or technological means of monitoring activity along the border are said to have been supported.
According to leaks to Israeli media, the prime minister and his defense chiefs have yelled at each other during meetings, and Mr. Netanyahu has allegedly been accused of not wanting any kind of agreement at all.
More and more people here seem to be of the opinion that the prime minister is just biding his time, and that his true objective is to track down and eliminate Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas, before bringing the war to an end.
In spite of intense pressure from abroad, Mr. Netanyahu claims he is defending Israel’s security. And that the person obstructing a deal is Hamas.
Only after Israel and Hamas concur to start the first stage of a three-step plan that US President Joe Biden is strongly advocating will talks on a permanent ceasefire begin.
An unnamed senior official was quoted by Israel’s national public radio as saying that mediators had received Israel’s agreement to remove troops from the border at a later stage of the ceasefire process from chief negotiator David Barnea of Mossad.
But with so many unanswered questions, even reaching consensus on the first step is proving difficult.
