Jerusalem — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel must remain in a strip of land between the Gaza Strip and the Egyptian border to prevent Hamas from rearming. He spoke as the White House said Israel must withdraw at least partially from the area.
The Israeli army published a picture Wednesday of the opening of the tunnel in Gaza where the bodies of six Israeli hostages were found after they had been executed by Hamas on Saturday.
The deaths of the six, including American Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin, have sparked mass demonstrations in Israel by hundreds of thousands of Israelis who want Netanyahu to agree to a cease-fire deal with Hamas that would free the remaining 101 hostages.
The demonstrations have grown increasingly angry as many blame Netanyahu for holding up a cease-fire deal. Three of the six hostages killed by Hamas were set to have been released in the first phase of the deal, meaning they were killed days before they could have been freed.
Israeli media reports say Netanyahu had agreed to leave the Philadelphi corridor, the strip of land along the border between Gaza and Egypt.
Mossad chief David Barnea confirmed on Monday to mediators in the talks with Hamas taking place in Qatar that Israel was prepared to withdraw from the Philadelphi corridor in the second stage of a hostage release deal. This was hours before Netanyahu publicly declared he would refuse to do so, foreign sources familiar with the negotiations told the Haaretz newspaper.
Barnea, who traveled to Qatar on Monday, had informed the representatives that Israel stood behind its agreement to pull out all its forces from the area in line with the Biden plan, if Israeli operational demands were met.
But in an English language news conference today, Netanyahu said that Israel’s decision to leave this area in 2005 as part of a complete withdrawal from Gaza was a big mistake.
“Once we left our side of the Philadelphi corridor, rockets went in, missiles went in, drones went in, ammo went in, weapons manufacturing equipment came in, tunnel-drilling equipment came in,” he said. “Once we got out, once we left the Philidephi corridor, Iran could carry out its plan to turn Gaza into a base, terrorist enclave that would endanger not only the communities around it but would endanger Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Be’er Sheva, the entire of country of Israel.
Netanyahu said the goals of the war remain the same.
“We are committed to achieving our goals, all three goals,” he said. “Destroying Hamas’ military and governing capabilities, releasing all our hostages and ensuring that Gaza does become a threat to Israel anymore. And all these require standing firm on the things that will ensure the achievement of these goals.”
That, he said, means Israel must maintain control over the Philadelphi corridor at least for the near future, even if it means there will not be a cease-fire deal with Hamas.
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