There are extensive disagreements between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli negotiating team with Hamas regarding the Philadelphi Corridor, Kan 11 News reported Monday night. Netanyahu insists on not withdrawing from the corridor and wants to keep IDF forces there. He also refuses to permit the free return of Gazans to the northern Gaza Strip.
The Philadelphi Corridor is the Israeli code name for 8.7 miles long, narrow strip of land along the entirety of the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. The name Philadelphi was randomly picked by the Israeli army as a code name for the border zone.
During Monday’s meeting, the negotiating team made it clear to Netanyahu that there is progress on these issues with the mediators but stressed that without a solution to the above two issues––IDF withdrawal from Philadelphi, and the uncontrolled flow of Gazans back to the north––Hamas would not agree to a hostage deal.
Israel’s security establishment believes it would be possible to deal with the return of Gaza residents to the north without restrictions, but Netanyahu rejected the proposal and instructed the negotiating team to ask the mediators to come up with a proposal that would guarantee terrorists would not be among the returnees to the northern Gaza Strip.
Diplomats briefed on the negotiation talks explained that the mediators are waiting for an official Israeli answer, to be able to coordinate the next date for the talks in Doha, Qatar. According to a political source, an Israeli delegation will leave this week to continue negotiations for a deal, although it is not yet clear if this delegation would be led by Mossad chief David Barnea, or would only include professionals.
Netanyahu has been under enormous pressure from within the security establishment to agree to remove IDF controls from the Gaza border with Egypt, which could potentially be a shot in the arm of Hamas on the way to its recovery by relying on smuggled weapons and ammunition from across the abandoned border. Combined with the hysterical, well-organized social pressure from the “bring them back” crowd, which depicts Netanyahu as the one and only culprit who brought about the abductions of Israeli civilians by Hamas invaders, the fact that Netanyahu remains steadfast in his position could mean two things: one, he finally realized that the IDF brass could once again lead Israel to the pit of defeat; and, two, his right-wing coalition partners Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir are sitting on his wrists, preventing him from repeating his Gilad Shalit capitulation.
State Dept. Spokesman Matthew Miller was asked by a reporter on Monday if the US agrees with Netanyahu’s red line regarding Israel staying in the Philadelphi Corridor, and answered, “Israel has very real security concerns about the Philadelphi corridor. That was a chief if not primary, smuggling route for Hamas to get weapons into Gaza that they used to launch the attacks of October 7th, that they used to launch rocket attacks against Israel, that they used to oppress the Palestinian people. So, it is important that the smuggling of weapons into Gaza be resolved. It’s also important that we find a way to reopen the Rafah border crossing. So, we have been in talks with Egypt and Israel about how to accomplish all those objectives, but I don’t have any announcements to make today with regard to any agreement. It’s something that we’re continuing to work on.”
