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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged on Wednesday to remain in a key border area between Gaza and Egypt, stating that October 7 attack provided his army with the “legitimacy” it sought to control the vital corridor.
His statement, which poses a deal-breaker for a ceasefire in the Palestinian territory that could potentially free Israeli hostages held by Hamas, contradicts what US officials have said about Israel agreeing to remove troops from the Salah Al Din area, also known as the Philadelphi corridor.
Speaking in Jerusalem, the Mr Netanyahu stressed that withdrawing from the border area is a “red line” he will not cross.
“Such a deal will kill us. There won't be a deal that way,” he said of an agreement that includes a withdrawal from the border area with Egypt, which he described as vital for Hamas's military strength.
He added that Israel lacked “legitimacy” to retake the corridor, which its army left as part of disengagement from Gaza in 2005, until the deadly October 7 attack led by Hamas that killed about 1,200 people. It led to a war where more than 40,800 Palestinians have been killed in 11 months.
“The only way to deal with it [Salah Al Din] was to conquer Gaza. But we knew we neither had the domestic legitimacy nor the international legitimacy to do it. We didn’t have the legitimacy before the October 7 massacre. And so what we did attack Hamas every time, but we didn’t go in,” said Mr Netanyahu, who spoke as anti-government protests continued nationwide.
“Once it happened, we went into Gaza. It was clear we were going to conquer Gaza, that we didn’t have a choice.”
On Tuesday, Washington said a ceasefire deal must include a full withdrawal from the corridor – a day after Mr Netanyahu rebuffed similar calls from within his cabinet.
“The bridging proposal that we started working with … included the removal of defence forces from all densely populated areas, and that includes those areas along that corridor,” White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said. “That's the proposal that Israel agreed to and we're going to continue to work on this as hard as we can.”
The devastated area next to Egypt’s border was initially intended to be part of a demilitarised zone following the 1979 Egypt-Israel peace agreement. It straddles some of Gaza’s most critical land crossings for aid and postwar reconstruction material.
To Israeli forces, it is seen as a main supply conduit for Hamas. Israel claims that much of the 6,000 tonnes of concrete they estimate the Iran-backed group used to construct hundreds of kilometres of tunnels under the coastal enclave was brought in through the buffer zone.
The prospect of the corridor’s reoccupation by Israel has sparked anger from Hamas and Egypt, which warned that it would not accept a permanent Israeli presence there.
Calls for Israel to leave the corridor intensified after six hostages were found dead in Gaza at the weekend, three of whom were scheduled to have been released as part of a US-proposed ceasefire in July. A general strike was called across Israel on Monday as anti-war protesters brought Tel Aviv to a standstill, while bereaved families said the hostages had been “sacrificed for Philadelphi”.
Hamas's oxygen
However, Mr Netanyahu, whose popularity continues to plummet over his insistence on continuing the war, said Hamas “can forget” about Israel leaving the corridor, which he described as “oxygen” for the Iran-backed militant group.
On Wednesday, he repeated claims of Salah Al Din being used as a major delivery route for Hamas weapons, displaying maps with the occupied West Bank as part of Israel.
“I said I'm willing to make a deal. The real obstacle to making a deal is not Israel, it's not me, it's Hamas,” he added.
The speech largely followed remarks he made at a press conference for Israeli media on Monday.
“Hamas insists we must not be there and it's for that reason I insist we must be there,” he said at the same time as thousands of people protested across Israel, demanding he agree to a deal and secure the release of the 101 hostages still held in Gaza.
His speech on Monday came hours after Mossad director David Barnea reportedly told negotiators Israel was willing to leave the corridor, exposing the cracks in the country's leadership.
Mr Netanyahu seemingly hardened his response again on Wednesday, posting a New York Times opinion column that described a hostage deal as “a poison pill” for Israel.
“The conditions we have for a permanent ceasefire must include conditions where the Philadelphi corridor cannot be infiltrated. Bring me anyone who will actually show us … I don't care who,” he said at the press conference. “Until that happens, we’re there.”
The Prime Minister, facing corruption charges that could spell an end to his political career, has long been accused of obstructing a ceasefire deal for his own political gain.
On Wednesday, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported he was using the Salah Al Din corridor to justify his rejection of any effort to end the war. “Netanyahu decided some weeks ago that he does not want a deal, and when it became possible, he got nervous and did all he could to torpedo,” a government source told the outlet.
“The media fell for this spin and is consumed all day long with the question of yes or no to the Philadelphi, when the real question is really the fate of the hostages versus the fate of the coalition.”
After Egypt warned it would not accept a permanent Israeli presence in the corridor, Mr Netanyahu accused Cairo of failing to properly secure the area.
Egypt has since condemned Mr Netanyahu's speech on Monday, followed by the UAE, Jordan and Qatar, the main mediator between Israel and Hamas.
