Israeli Channel 12 quoted the prime minister’s office as saying that Netanyahu is determined to return the “kidnapped soldiers” while maintaining the Philadelphi Corridor in “Israeli hands.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the army will not withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor regardless of the positions of the security and military establishments in Israel, according to Israeli media.
The Israeli prime minister’s statement was apparently made during a meeting with the families of the captive female soldiers on Monday.
“We will not back down from our demand regarding the Philadelphi Corridor, and I do not care about the position of the security services,” Netanyahu was quoted as saying during the meeting with the families of the female soldiers.
In line with this statement, the Israeli newspaper Maariv quoted the prime minister as saying that “Israel’s withdrawal from the Philadelphi Corridor will raise a big question mark about our ability to return to it.”
In the "ceasefire talks," Netanyahu wants the Philadelphi and Netzarim corridors. Corridors are key tools of fragmentation, enclavisation and land dispossession in the history of Israel's colonisation of Palestine. Corridors (Allon Plan etc) were key in settling the West Bank. pic.twitter.com/gs2OYNcfcO
— Nicola Perugini (@PeruginiNic) August 22, 2024
For its part, Israeli Channel 12 quoted the prime minister’s office as saying that Netanyahu is determined to return the “kidnapped soldiers” while maintaining the Philadelphi Corridor in “Israeli hands.”
Channel 12 also quoted Gallant as confirming to the families of the captive female soldiers that Israel’s absence from the Philadelphi Corridor does not constitute a security problem.
“We can deal with the situation in the Philadelphi Corridor if we leave it for six weeks,” Gallant reportedly told the families.
Hamas’ Position
A Hamas official revealed to Anadolu news agency that the mediators in Egypt and Qatar informed the Palestinian resistance delegation in Cairo of a new proposal ceasefire deal, which neither includes a permanent ceasefire nor a complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
According to the Hamas official, the new proposal with the Israeli demands, not only gives Israel control over the 14-kilometer border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip but also grants it a military presence in the Strip.
Truce Deal at a Dead-end – Israel Refuses to Withdraw from Philadelphi Corridor
The Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas issued a statement on August 20 following claims by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted the new US proposal.
Only hours after Blinken’s announcement, Netanyahu returned to reaffirm his previous conditions, insisting that the war on Gaza will not stop.
Hamas confirmed in the clarification, a copy of which was obtained by Al-Jazeera, its commitment and immediate readiness to implement what it agreed to on July 2.
What Hamas had agreed on back then was based on a speech made by US President Joe Biden and the UN Security Council resolution that followed.
What is the Philadelphi Corridor?
The Philadelphi Corridor – often referred to as Philadelphia – is a narrow strip of land, long 14 kilometers, located along the border between southern Gaza and Egypt.
In the past, the corridor was under the control of Israeli forces, which patrolled it under the provisions of the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty of 1979.
Israel was allowed to control the corridor even after the Oslo Accords of 1993.
The Strategic Importance of the Philadelphi Route to Israel – EXPLAINER
Only in 2005, when Israeli troops redeployed from the Gaza Strip, Egypt and Israel concluded the Philadelphi Accord.
Then, Egypt was committed to deploying 750 border guards along the route to patrol the border on the Egyptian side, while the Palestinian side remained under the control of the Palestinians.
Ongoing Genocide
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 40,476 Palestinians have been killed, and 93,647 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
Truce Deal at a Dead-end – Israel Refuses to Withdraw from Philadelphi Corridor
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.
(AJA, PC)
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