The News
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday the country’s forces would not leave Gaza’s southern border with Egypt — known as the Philadelphi Corridor — a stance that has emerged as a major obstacle to a potential ceasefire deal with Hamas.
Netanyahu’s comments came amid renewed efforts by US officials to finalize a new proposal, although international mediators are said to be increasingly pessimistic about a breakthrough.
Netanyahu’s critics in Israel say his insistence on maintaining control of the Philadelphi Corridor is a ploy to derail any deal that might weaken him politically.
SIGNALS
Philadelphi Corridor is an eight-mile deal breaker
The Philadelphi Corridor — an eight mile-long, 100 yard-wide strip of land along the southern border of Gaza and Egypt — has become a crucial point of contention in ceasefire talks, The New York Times reported. Netanyahu has described it as a “lifeline” for Hamas, saying the group uses the tunnels inside the corridor to smuggle in weapons and recruits. Egypt has strongly denied those claims, and cited past security commitments requiring Israeli forces to stay away from its border with Gaza. One Egyptian minister accused Israel of “us[ing] Egypt’s name” to obstruct a deal. Meanwhile, Hamas has demanded a full withdrawal of Israeli troops, with neither side seemingly interested in breaking the impasse.
Netanyahu in danger of further alienating himself in Israel
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to relent on the Philadelphi Corridor and broker a peace agreement is fueling tensions at home: Opposition politician Benny Gantz, who resigned from Netanyahu’s war cabinet in June, accused Netanyahu of damaging relations with the US by not signing the deal and reiterated that securing the remaining hostages held in Gaza must be prioritized “even at a very high cost.” Netanyahu has not budged on his border stance despite massive anti-government protests in Israel demanding him to sign a deal that would free the hostages. “The stakes have never been higher, and the outlook never bleaker” for the hostages and millions in in Gaza, The Washington Post wrote.