Following the killing of six hostages in the Gaza Strip, officials involved in mediating ceasefire negotiations are discussing ways to move forward with a pause in fighting and the release of hostages, the CNN a source familiar with the conversations.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a press conference on Monday (2), pointed out that Israel will never leave the Philadelphia Corridor — which connects Gaza and Egypt.
“This guy torpedoed everything in one speech,” the source said.
The director of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, David Barnea, also traveled to Doha and met with Qatar’s prime minister on Monday.
Hamas denies deal without Israel withdrawal
Hamas’s chief negotiator, Khalil Al-Hayya, told Al Jazeera news network on Sunday that there would be no deal without the withdrawal of the Israel Defense Forces from the Philadelphia Corridor.
Between the hostages and the Israeli military presence in the corridor, the “[corredor] from Philadelphia was more important,” Hayya claimed.
Netanyahu’s recent insistence on remaining in the area represents a shift in position, sources familiar with the negotiations say.
When US President Joe Biden announced a draft on May 31 – which he said Israel had agreed to – it was expected to involve an IDF withdrawal east of populated areas.
According to a draft published in Israeli media, there was no mention of the Philadelphia Corridor.
In the weeks that followed, Israel then added remaining in the corridor as a condition, and recent negotiations have discussed what the military presence along the border would look like.
A permanent IDF presence in the Philadelphia Corridor would also run counter to the US position on the future of Gaza.
On Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s most recent trip to Israel in August, he told reporters that the US will not accept “any long-term Israeli occupation of Gaza.”
Government officials have made clear that they expect a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza as a result of any permanent ceasefire agreement.
This content was originally published in Israel’s War: Mediators discuss ways to move forward with ceasefire agreement on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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