The Gaza hostages deal has included an IDF withdrawal from sections of the Philadelphi Corridor, US National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby told reporters on Tuesday as he pushed back at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s insistence that Israel would refuse to take such a step.
“The deal says that they [Israel] have to remove the IDF from all densely populated areas in Phase One [of the deal]. That includes densely populated areas that are around or are adjacent to the Philadelphi Corridor, where it intersects with those densely populated areas,” Kirby said.
“That is what the proposal says, that is the proposal that was put forth at the end of May,” he said, as he referred to the May 31 three-phase framework deal that US President Joe Biden unveiled.
That same requirement is also in the bridging proposal that the US put forward in August, he said.
An Israeli official disputed Kirby’s description of the agreement. The official told The Jerusalem Post that while the US proposal in Phase One requires the IDF to leave “densely populated areas, including those adjacent to the Philadelphi Corridor,” it specifies that this would not impact “Israel’s control of the Philadelphi Corridor itself.”
Kirby spoke just one day after Netanyahu held a press conference to stress that he had no plans to withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor. Israel has agreed to both the May 31 proposal and the bridging proposal.
But Israel has sought to clarify the details of the IDF withdrawal from populated areas in Phase One of the deal and within that discussion, it has explained since the Corridor is not a populated area, the IDF would remain there in Phase One. The Security Cabinet voted 8-1 on Thursday to back Netanyahu’s position that the IDF must remain in the Philadelphi Corridor.
Hamas has insisted that it would only agree to a deal in which Israel withdraws from the Corridor at the start of Phase One. Security officials have said that Israel can safely withdraw from Philadelphi during that phase to allow for hostages to be released and deal with the question of a permanent withdrawal later.
The deal is structured such that questions such as control of the Philadelphi Corridor, a permanent ceasefire, and the complete withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza would be discussed during Phase One, concurrent with the release of hostages during a six-week period. Those talks could extend beyond Phase One but would be concluded during Phase Two.
Possible withdrawal in Phase Two
KAN News cited an Israeli official who said that Netanyahu had agreed to withdraw from Philadelphi during Phase Two of the deal, even though those details are expected to be debated.
The issue has been Phase One of the deal and the temporary withdrawal from Philadelphi, while Hamas is still active in Gaza.
The Prime Minister’s Office said in response that the security cabinet has not been asked to debate Phase Two of the deal.
The Corridor is a critical security buffer zone between Egypt and Gaza. Hamas for years had smuggled weapons into Gaza under that Corridor in the complex tunnels that were built during Hamas’s hold on the area.
Israel fears that unless the IDF controls that Corridor, Hamas could continue to smuggle weapons and rearm.
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