US media cited the determination of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to remain militarily in the 14-kilometer (9-mile) Philadelphia Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border as scuttling the possibility of a cease-fire deal, Anadolu Agency reports.
Citing officials involved as brokers in the indirect talks for a cease-fire and prisoner exchange agreement between the Palestinian Resistance group Hamas and Israel in the Gaza Strip, The Washington Post reported Tuesday that Netanyahu’s opposition to the hostage releases “has become the main obstacle to a cease-fire and hostage release agreement with Hamas.”
Two senior officials said that US-led talks could conclude if both Hamas and Israel reject the final “take-it-or-leave-it” proposal put forward by the Biden administration. Another senior American official said a “US-trained Palestinian force is the most likely arrangement” to secure the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt.
A former Egyptian official said that after the EU declared its readiness to resume its observer role at the Rafah Crossing Cairo would welcome an EU presence. Israeli activist, Gershon Baskin, claimed to have received in May a green light from members of the Israeli hostage negotiating team to open a secret back channel with Hamas.
“It lasted for all of two weeks before I was shut down. Israel is trying to sell to the public that negotiations are going on, but no real negotiations are going on,” said Baskin. A statement by the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office reported that Baskin “has not been, nor is, part of the official or indirect negotiations that Israel has been conducting since the events of October 7.”
The office of the Prime Minister refused to comment on Netanyahu’s stance regarding the Philadelphia Corridor. The Israeli Prime Minister refused once again to withdraw Monday from the Philadelphi Corridor – a demilitarized area along Egypt’s border with Gaza.
Israeli’s Premier said that the Corridor was a “lifeline” for Hamas to re-arm, accusing that weapons are being smuggled into the Palestinian Resistance group through the Egyptian border. Cairo accused Netanyahu of “trying to involve Egypt to divert Israeli public opinion, obstruct a cease-fire and hostage swap deal and hinder mediation efforts by Egypt, Qatar and the US.
