Netanyahu made maintaining this deployment a condition for a ceasefire agreement in the Strip
Aug. 30 (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Israeli government has approved the proposal presented by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to maintain the deployment of troops in the Philadelphia corridor in the event of an agreement for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, an option rejected by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and other Palestinian factions, which demand the Israeli withdrawal from the enclave.
Official sources cited by the Israeli daily Haaretz have revealed that the vote, which took place late on Thursday, ended with a vote against by Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and with the abstention of the Minister of National Security, the far-right Itamar Ben Gvir.
The cabinet was forced to consider a series of maps prepared by the military with plans for keeping troops in this part of the enclave, which lies on the border with Egypt, after Netanyahu said the October 7 attacks were caused in part by a failure to monitor the area.
The Israeli prime minister has made this issue one of his new demands in indirect negotiations with Hamas for a ceasefire in Gaza that would include the release of those kidnapped during the attacks on October 7, which left nearly 1,200 dead and some 250 hostages, according to Israeli authorities.
In this regard, official sources cited by the newspaper ‘The Times of Israel’ have assured that the maps had already been endorsed by the United States, in apparent reference to the proposal presented this month by the Joe Biden Administration.
The latest proposal, submitted last week by Israel, includes providing Hamas with a map of the positions where Israeli troops would be deployed, as well as a reduction in their number and the number of military posts. The map previously presented by the Israeli government was directly rejected by Egypt, which is acting as mediator and refused to send it to the Palestinian Islamist group.
The Philadelphia Corridor is the name given to the 14-kilometre-long strip of land 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 seized control of the area after it took control of the enclave following intra-Palestinian fighting in 2007, following disputes stemming from the previous year’s elections. Egypt, which has a peace agreement with Israel since 1979, has warned Israel about the risk of operations in the area.
The Israeli army launched an offensive against Gaza following the attacks on October 7, which have so far left more than 40,600 Palestinians dead, according to the Gazan authorities, controlled by Hamas, a figure to which must be added more than 660 deaths in the West Bank and East Jerusalem at the hands of Israeli forces or settlers.
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