Netanyahu insists on full control of Philadelphi Corridor ahead of Gaza cease-fire talks in Egypt

By Abdelraouf Arnaout

JERUSALEM (AA) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu still insists on maintaining control over the Philadelphi Corridor in the southern Gaza Strip on the border with Egypt, the public broadcaster KAN said Thursday.

"The prime minister has not changed his position on the need for Israeli control and presence in the Philadelphi Corridor,” KAN said, citing an Israeli political source.

Netanyahu had a phone call on Wednesday with US President Joe Biden amid an impasse in Gaza cease-fire and prisoner swap negotiations.

The call came as the parties are set to reconvene in Cairo, Egypt, by the end of the week for a meeting that a US official said last week will seek to conclude the months-long talks.

The Washington Post, citing unnamed US administration sources, said Netanyahu mentioned during the phone call a map detailing the locations of Israeli presence along the Philadelphi Corridor and near the Egypt-Gaza border.

But the Israeli source denied any change in Netanyahu’s position on the corridor.

“There will be no deal as long as there is insistence on deploying forces along the entire axis,” KAN said, citing sources familiar with the talks.

“The Israeli option being put forward behind closed doors is related to reducing the number of forces, not their locations,” it added.

"The mediator countries are frustrated, because the Israeli plan is Hamas' red line, and Hamas' plan is Israel's red line,” the broadcaster said.

The latest round of mediated negotiations ended on Aug. 16 in Doha, Qatar with the US presenting the parties with what the White House described as a "final bridging proposal" that it put on the table for Israel and Hamas, claiming it is consistent with the principles supported by Biden on May 31.

The details of the proposal remain shrouded in secrecy.

But Hamas has since rejected the proposal, saying it aligns with Netanyahu’s new conditions.

It said the "proposal meets Netanyahu's conditions and aligns with them, particularly his refusal of a permanent cease-fire, (of) a complete withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and his insistence on continuing the occupation of the Netzarim Junction, the Rafah crossing and the Philadelphi Corridor."

The Palestinian group was referring to two strips of land in Gaza, one of which was recently built by Israel and divides the coastal territory into a northern and southern section. The Philadelphi Corridor follows the Gaza-Egypt border. The Rafah border crossing sits along the Philadelphi Corridor.

Hamas has long insisted on the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the permanent end to the war as part of any cease-fire deal. But Netanyahu has dismissed the conditions, maintaining his troops will remain in Gaza for as long as he deems necessary.

“He (Netanyahu) also set new conditions in the hostage swap file and retracted from other terms, which obstructs the completion of the deal,” Hamas added.

The group reiterated its commitment to what it agreed in July based on a plan for a cease-fire that Biden publicly laid out in May, and which a UN Security Council resolution endorsed in June.

For months, the US, Qatar and Egypt have been trying to reach an agreement between Israel and Hamas to ensure a prisoner exchange and cease-fire and allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza. But mediation efforts have been stalled due to Netanyahu’s refusal to meet Hamas’s demands to stop the war.

Israel has continued its brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip following an attack by Hamas last Oct. 7, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.

The onslaught has resulted in over 40,200 Palestinian deaths, mostly women and children, and nearly 93,000 injuries, according to local health authorities.

An ongoing blockade of Gaza has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine, leaving much of the region in ruins.

Israel faces accusations of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which has ordered a halt to military operations in the southern city of Rafah, where over one million Palestinians had sought refuge before the area was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar