Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that Israel will only agree to a permanent ceasefire in Gaza that guarantees the border area between southern Gaza and Egypt could never be used as a lifeline for the Islamist movement Hamas.
"Until that happens, we're there," he told a news conference in Jerusalem.
Netanyahu repeated his outright rejection of a withdrawal from the so-called Philadelphi corridor in the first phase of a deal, expected to last 42 days, saying international pressure would make it effectively impossible to return.
For a permanent ceasefire to be agreed upon after that, Israel would need guarantees that whoever ran postwar Gaza would be able to prevent the corridor from being used as a route for smuggling weapons and supplies for Hamas.
"Somebody has to be there," he said. "Bring me anyone who will actually show - not on paper, not in words, not on a slide - but day after day, week after week, month after month, that they can actually prevent a recurrence of what happened there before," he said, referring to Hamas' Oct 7 attack on Israel.
"We're open to consider it, but I don't see that happening right now."
The Philadelphi corridor, along the southern edge of the Gaza Strip bordering Egypt, has been one of the main obstacles to a deal to halt the fighting in Gaza and bring Israeli hostages home in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
Netanyahu has insisted on retaining control of the corridor, where Israeli troops have uncovered dozens of tunnels that officials say have been used to supply Hamas with weapons and ammunition.
The prime minister has faced heavy criticism from many in Israel for holding out on the issue, including from many in his own security establishment who believe Israeli troops can make targeted interventions if needed to prevent any smuggling.
The families of many hostages, including some of the six whose bodies were recovered from a tunnel in southern Gaza on Sunday, have accused him of sacrificing their loved ones by insisting on keeping troops in the corridor.
But he said maintaining pressure on Hamas was the best way to return the 101 hostages still remaining in Gaza.
"You need to squeeze them, to put pressure on them to release the remaining hostages. So if you want to release the hostages, you've got to control the Philadelphi corridor," he said.
© Thomson Reuters 2024.
26 Comments
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John
He looks like the weather man on local news.
”In the North, it will be mostly indiscriminate bombing with a chance of displacement. Better take a will and testament if you’re going out.”
Yrral
He is delusional that ,he has the majority of Americans backing,but he is a cornered rat ,that American is getting ready to spring the trap
John
The UN could be responsible for security on the Philadelphia corridor.
John
If the topic weren’t so serious, Bini would be memed into retirement by the mockery these pictures so richly deserve.
Sanjinosebleed
The fact this lunatic is still in power speaks volumes about the hypocrisy of international law!
Aly Rustom
That was brilliant John!! I'd laugh if the topic wasn't so grim.
What he has done is completely expose the world order for the joke that it is. The US will never again be able to express moral outrage after the Gaza debacle and have other countries rally around it. This scumbag alongside his geriatric bridge partner in the White House made sure of that.
plasticmonkey
Nobody will ever hate Israel again after its scorched earth policy. All Palestinians, Arabs, and Iranians will lay down their arms and learn to love Israel’s unrivaled power and the preferential treatment it receives from the United States.
s/
Bibi wants the conflict to continue indefinitely. That way he can stay in power and avoid trial indefinitely.
Bibi is terrible for Israel’s long-term security.
Capuchin
Look closely at that map. Notice something missing? Palestine. Here's what a map of the region actually looks like according international law.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli-occupied_territories#/media/File%3AIsrael_and_occupied_territories_map.png
Indeed, tune in for your daily war crimes forecast.
RichardPearce
The barrier to a ceasefire deal is not the lines on the map.
It's not even the guy pointing at the map.
The problem is that despite decades of murderous efforts, the majority of the internationally recognized legal population of the territory the guy claims to be the democratically elected government of thinks of that territory as PALESTINE, and sees him as heading an illegitimate regime.
Adding to the problem is that the project he's dedicated his life to, 'fixing' that problem through violence, oppression, and worse, not only remains unsolvable by those means, but those very means are hastening the day when the fix of recognizing a government by those who think of the territory as PALESTINE is going to be what even America's government is on board with.
dbsaiya
The Israelis voted right wing in their 2022 election and this is what they got. Or I should say, we got, as in the rest of the world. So for Japanese when you vote LDP, you get LDP, for the U.S. you vote trump, you get MAGA. And for Germany in the Reichstag election of 1932, the people voted in the Nazi party cementing Hitler's grip on German politics.
The Ripper!
Israel can stay in its land in Gaza as long as it wants. It just needs to eliminate the terrorists.
u_s__reamer
On this occasion the "weather man" is careful not to use his favorite map of "Greater Israel" without the "P" word and ethnically cleansed of "Arab squatters".
WoodyLee
Hamas is getting many of it's and supplies from arms dealers in Israel.
Egypt has been blocking and destroying Hamas tunnels for years but some are not, if and when Israel opens it's borders with the strip there will be NO NEED for any tunnels and survival supplies will be moved in and out of Gaza.
Gazan's can't import more than 50% of what we all enjoy in our daily lives. Soup, hair spray, tooth paste, X- ray Machines, ventilators, anesthetics, water filtration systems, crutches, certain auto parts, camera's and the list goes on & on.
Tunnel make up for all the items Israel ridiculously blocking
WoodyLee
NO Blockade = NO Tunnels, Bibi simple as that.
The Ripper!
There is no need for Israel to leave its own lands.
The terrorists need to be destroyed.
Stay the course Israel.
Raw Beer
As millions of israelis are leaving the Middle East, I doubt any will remain in what is today called israel.
RichardPearce
Try finding a map that lab
RichardPearce
Try finding a map that labels that strip of land 'Israel' or anything like that prior to halfway through the 20th century. It's going to be a long search (or a short one to fakes).
And it's doubtful there'll be any dated after halfway through the 21st century other than war gaming and the like.
Zaphod
RichardPearce
Likewise, you can try finding a map that shows a land called "Palestine" (instead of a area, covering several countries with shifting borders in the region). Fact is, the region has always been a mess, but right now any Israeli government (regardless how bad Netanyahu is) has to deal with Hamas and bring the surviving hostages back. How would you feel if you had family members held in Hamas dungeons?
Daniel Neagari
Evil person using infographics always get good reviews.
Zaphod
Raw Beer
Are they? Where are they going? Islamic countries in the neighbourhood, which are so safe for them? Europe and the US, where anti-Jewish attacks are on the rise and daily mass protests in favour of Hamas ("from the river to the sea" etc etc). Can you clue us in?
Zaphod
u_s__reamer
Reality check: Israel left Gaza in 2005, and the IDF removed the local Jewish settlements there. Gaza has been ethnically cleansed of Jews since then.
Raw Beer
Yes.
I don't know, but I suspect they are returning to which ever country they came from.
Daniel Neagari
when seeing that picure... i can only hear... "This is were I am going to build my new beach house, right next to the new yacth club"
RichardPearce
Zaphod asks how I'd feel if I had a family member being held by Hamas .
I'd feel ASHAMED to have a relative who'd participated in or supported multiple Crimes Against Humanity and violations of the Geneva Conventions.
Wouldn't you?
My question in return, how would you feel if you had family members who had been kidnapped and held, probably tortured, or killed by a regime like Israel?
Because in all the interviews and biographies I have read about those who had been, or had family members who had been, there'd be many emotions in many degrees, but there'd always been a sense of PRIDE that they were not the bad people in the bad situation.
TokyoLiving
Till the last gazatian..
He is a monster..