\n<\/p>\n
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has again insisted that Israeli forces will not leave the Philadelphi corridor – a strategically important strip of land in southern Gaza along the border with Egypt.<\/p>\n
He told foreign media in Jerusalem that he is \u201copen\u201d to considering alternatives to the presence of Israeli troops along the Gaza-Egypt border, as part of any future permanent ceasefire deal \u2013 but that he did not see it happening.<\/p>\n
Mr Netanyahu argued that Israeli troops must remain in this buffer zone to prevent weapons and possibly Israeli hostages being smuggled across the border.<\/p>\n
Hamas has repeatedly rejected this position. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Conditions for any permanent ceasefire must include “a situation where the Philadelphi corridor cannot be perforated,\u201d Mr Netanyahu said, referring to the corridor of land that runs along Gaza\u2019s southern border with Egypt.<\/p>\n
He said if someone could show, \u201cnot on paper, not in words, not in a slide, but on the ground, day after day, week after week, month after month that they can actually prevent the recurrence of what happened there before we’re open to consider it.\u201d<\/p>\n
But, he continued, \u201cI don\u2019t see that happening [\u2026] And until that happens, we are there.\u201d<\/p>\n
His comments open a miniscule crack in his repeated insistence that Israeli forces would not leave Gaza\u2019s southern border.<\/p>\n
But he also doubled-down on his insistence that Israel needed to keep troops there for its security, describing it as a \u201cred line\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople said: this will kill the deal,\u201d he continued. \u201cAnd I say: such a deal will kill us.\u201d<\/p>\n
Making more concessions after Hamas killed six hostages last week would be \u201cillogical\u201d, \u201cimmoral\u201d and \u201cinsane,\u201d he insisted. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe have red lines. They haven\u2019t changed. We\u2019ll hold to them.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
His security chiefs, including his defence minister, are widely reported to have backed alternatives to a military presence along the border, such as technological solutions to monitor activity there, or the presence of allied forces.<\/p>\n
Leaks to Israeli media have described shouting matches between the prime minister and his defence chiefs in meetings, with Mr Netanyahu reportedly accused of not wanting a deal at all.<\/p>\n
A growing number of people here appear to believe that the prime minister is playing for time, and that his real goal is to find and kill the Hamas leader, Yahya Sinwar,<\/a> before ending the war.<\/p>\n Mr Netanyahu says he is safeguarding Israel\u2019s security in the face of extraordinary international pressure. And that it is Hamas who is blocking a deal.<\/p>\n Talks on a permanent ceasefire would only take place once Israel and Hamas agree to begin the first phase of a three-step plan, which is being pushed heavily by US President Joe Biden<\/a>.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s national public radio quoted an unnamed senior official who said that the chief negotiator, Mossad head David Barnea, had conveyed to mediators Israel\u2019s agreement to withdraw troops from the border at a later stage in the ceasefire process.<\/p>\n But even getting agreement on the first stage is proving tricky, with many issues still unresolved.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n