The IDF will remain stationed along the Philadelphi Corridor in any hostages-for-ceasefire-deal with Hamas.
(JNS)
Israel’s Security Cabinet voted over the weekend in support of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s stance of maintaining an Israel Defense Forces presence in the Philadelphi Corridor, which runs along the Gaza Strip’s border with Egypt, in any hostages-for ceasefire-and-terrorists-
Eight ministers voted in favor, while Defense Minister Yoav Gallant opposed the measure and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir abstained.
The ministers effectively approved several maps showing how Israel will preserve troop deployments along the corridor, previously Hamas’s main conduit for smuggling weapons to Gaza, mainly through a vast network of tunnels.
The maps have reportedly been incorporated into the “bridging proposal” the U.S. put out two weeks ago that Jerusalem accepted but Hamas rejected.
Earlier this month, Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Hamas to reconsider its position, following meetings with senior officials in Jerusalem.
“In a very constructive meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu … he confirmed to me that Israel accepts the bridging proposal, that he supports it. It’s now incumbent on Hamas to do the same,” said Blinken.
“The single quickest, best, most effective way to relieve the terrible suffering of the Palestinians that was instigated by Hamas’s attack on Oct. 7 and the war that ensued is to complete this agreement,” he added.
During a Cabinet meeting this month, Netanyahu said that he is “prepared to go very far to release all of our hostages, while maintaining the security of Israel.”
The premier said that Hamas is demanding “that Israel not be able to return to the war [following a ceasefire]. It demands that we withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor and the Rafah Crossing [between Gaza and Egypt]—its lifelines, which would allow it to rearm and rebuild its strength. It is important to determine the principle: We are not leaving from there.
“Hamas is also unprepared to allow any mechanism to check for and prevent the passage of munitions and terrorists to the northern Gaza Strip. It is doing all this because it wants to recover and rebuild, and return again and again to the massacre of October 7, as it has promised to do,” Netanyahu continued.
“The fact is that it is Hamas which is preventing the release of our hostages, and which continues to oppose the outline, and not the government of Israel, which has accepted it. Whoever, like us, wants the release of our hostages needs to direct the pressure onto Hamas, and not onto the government of Israel,” he added.
The latest round of hostage negotiations ended without results as the Israeli delegation led by Mossad chief David Barnea returned home from Cairo last Sunday.
Despite the lack of progress, Washington responded optimistically, calling the talks “constructive.” U.S. National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said the Biden Administration was working “feverishly” to reach a deal.
Off-and-on negotiations have continued for months with the U.S., Egypt and Qatar acting as mediators.
One hundred and seven hostages—alive and dead—remain in Hamas captivity in Gaza.
Image: A three-meter-high tunnel discovered by the Israel Defense Forces in the Philadelphi Corridor, Aug. 4, 2024. Credit: IDF.
