Israeli minister threatens to topple government if troops withdraw from two areas of Gaza

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16 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –

Israel’s Minister of Settlements and National Projects, the far-right Orit Strock, threatened on Tuesday to bring down the government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if the army withdraws from two specific areas of the Gaza Strip, including the Philadelphia corridor on the border with Egypt.

“We have explicitly said that if the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) withdraw from the Netzarim corridor and the Philadelphia corridor, we will not be in the government,” he said during a visit to the Kerem Shalom border crossing. “We will dismantle the government,” he warned.

He stressed that his party, Religious Zionism, “is putting pressure within the government, in the strongest way that a party can,” to ensure that this demand is respected, within the framework of the offensive launched by Israel against the Gaza Strip following the attacks carried out on October 7 by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and other Palestinian factions.

Netanyahu’s office recently rejected reports that Israeli troops might withdraw from the border with Egypt if a ceasefire agreement with Hamas in Gaza is reached, although these corridors would not be included in the latest proposal, the Israeli newspaper ‘The Times of Israel’ reported.

The Philadelphia corridor was captured by Israel in late May as part of its ground offensive against the city of Rafah, which also led to the suspension of humanitarian operations across the border with Egypt.

The corridor is a strip of land about 14 kilometres long that runs along the border, the Palestinian side of which came under the control of the Palestinian Authority following the 2005 ‘Disengagement Plan’ and the Egyptian side of which came under the control of Cairo. However, Hamas took over the area after taking control of the enclave following intra-Palestinian fighting in 2007.

The Netzarim corridor runs from the Israeli border near Beeri to the Gaza coast, passing between Gaza City and Nuseirat, thereby dividing the enclave in two and allowing Israeli troops to maintain control of access to the north for displaced people who want to return to their homes after fleeing the offensive.