(Bloomberg) -- In recent days, the presence of Israeli troops along a narrow corridor in southern Gaza has become one of the most serious issues dividing Hamas and Israel as their cease-fire talks drag on.
The question of whether Israel can keep its forces in the so-called Philadelphi corridor, which runs along the Egypt-Gaza border, is vexing mediators. It is key to the negotiations, which are meant to restart in Cairo on Sunday, and also the cause of the latest rift between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the White House.
Netanyahu says Israel’s soldiers must keep control of the corridor, including the Rafah border crossing, to prevent weapons smuggling from Egypt into Gaza. That’s crucial, he argues, to stop Hamas — designated a terrorist organization by the US and European Union — rearming and carrying out another Oct. 7-style attack on Israel.
The Rafah crossing is the only one Gaza has with a country aside from Israel. It was operated by Hamas and Egypt until the Israeli military captured it in May, since when it’s been shut. Israel’s complained about smuggling from Egypt for years.
Netanyahu now regularly refers to the Philadelphi corridor in public. His office was quick to deny local reports this week that he’s considering allowing a multi-national force to replace Israeli troops there.
The US was rankled by reports in local media that he claimed to have convinced US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, when they met on Monday in Jerusalem, to accept Israeli forces staying in the corridor. Netanyahu’s office didn’t deny the reports.
A senior State Department official said Blinken had not agreed to that and added such “maximalist” statements hinder the negotiations with Hamas.
Netanyahu’s government says its stance is fully in line with US President Joe Biden’s proposal from May, which forms the basis for the talks. Hamas disagrees and says Israel is making new demands. Egypt, too, is against Israeli troops controlling the border crossing and the corridor.
Biden’s plan, dubbed a “bridging” agreement before the final details are hashed out, calls for Israel to remove forces from populated areas in the first phase of a cease-fire. Israel says its smuggling concerns have deepened because it’s discovered dozens of tunnels since taking over the corridor, which contains scrubland and parts of the city of Rafah.
Netanyahu’s position faces criticism within Israel. Some opponents accuse him of trying to prolong the war to appease the far-right members of his cabinet and stall any push for early elections.
Gadi Eisenkot, a former head of the Israeli military and a member of the war cabinet until he quit in June, says Israel can seal the Egypt-Gaza border even if it gives up control of the Philadelphi corridor. It can do that, he says, by working more closely with Cairo and building an underground barrier like those that exist between the Gaza-Israel borders.
“The taking over of the Philadelphi corridor was not a goal of the war, but a means to achieve war goals that include the release of hostages,” said Eisenkot. “It should not turn from a means to an end.”
The corridor is far from the only sticking point. Israel and Hamas are yet to agree how many hostages will be released from Gaza in the first phase of a deal, as well as how many Palestinians will be freed from Israeli jails.
Netanyahu also says Israel will keep forces along a second corridor called Netzarim, which bisects Gaza, to block Hamas fighters moving back into northern parts of the territory.
In addition, Hamas wants any truce to end the war, while Israel says it must retain the right to restart fighting and achieve its aim of destroying Hamas.
Blinken took to calling it an “enduring cease-fire” this week, indicating the US thinks the phrase could satisfy both sides.
Even if he’s right, he will have to overcome the dispute over the Philadelphi corridor.
“All parties are very frustrated,” Merissa Khurma, director of the Middle East program at the Wilson Center, said of the issue. “The only way forward I see is to continue this intense diplomacy. I’m not too optimistic.”
--With assistance from Dan Williams, Natalia Drozdiak, Tom Fevrier and Galit Altstein.
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