Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated Friday that Israel has no intention of withdrawing from the Gaza-Egypt border, known as the Philadelphi corridor, in a hostage deal, despite media reports to the contrary.
In a statement, Netanyahu said (via Government Press Office):
The Reuters report, according to which, Israel has discussed the possibility of withdrawing from the Philadelphi Corridor, is absolute fake news.
The Prime Minister insists that Israel remain on the Philadelphi Corridor. He has instructed the negotiating teams accordingly, made this clear to US representatives this week, and updated the Security Cabinet to this effect last night.
However, officials told the Times of Israel that a withdrawal is in fact being discussed among mediators between Hamas and Israel: “Despite the denial issued by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, two officials involved in the hostage talks tell The Times of Israel that Israeli negotiators have in fact been discussing the possibility of an IDF withdrawal from the Philadelphi Corridor between Gaza and Egypt as part of a potential ceasefire deal.”
The border would supposedly be secured by an underground wall instead of by an Israeli military presence.
A recent poll suggested that giving up the Philadelphi corridor — one of the hard-fought gains of the Rafah invasion, which exposed many rocket launchers and smuggling tunnels — would be deeply unpopular with the Israeli public.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of “”The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days,” available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of “The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency,” now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.