Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has indicated that he won’t bow to political pressure to make a deal with the terrorist organization Hamas over the hostages it has taken from Israel and has insisted that the Israeli military needs to retain control of a strip of territory bordering Egypt in order to keep weapons from being smuggled into the Gaza Strip.
But Netanyahu said the Philadelphi corridor, which separates Gaza from Egypt, is vital to ensuring that Hamas cannot use tunnels beneath it to resupply its gunmen.
“This is the oxygen of Hamas,” he said.
Protesters are pressing the government to accept a cease-fire deal to return the remaining 101 hostages.
But Netanyahu responded to the pressure by saying, “No one is more committed to freeing the hostages than me. ... No one will preach to me on this issue.”
The status of the Philadelphi corridor has been a major sticking point preventing a cease-fire between the Israelis and Hamas.
On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas fighters crossed the border from the Gaza Strip and killed about 1,200 Israelis before taking about 250 hostages.
Israel responded by invading the Gaza Strip to neutralize the Hamas threat, and it has rescued a number of hostages and recovered the bodies of many more. Fifty hostages were released during a brief cease-fire in November 2023, but Hamas is believed to be holding a remaining 101 captive.
‘Axis of Evil’
“The axis of evil needs the Philadelphi corridor, and for that reason, we must control the Philadelphi corridor,” Netanyahu said at a news conference in Jerusalem.“Hamas insists for that reason that we not be there, and for that reason, I insist that we be there.”
Israel and Hamas have negotiated over the return of the Israeli and foreign hostages, which is believed to be linked to the release of dozens of Palestinians being held in Israeli prisons.
Hamas wants the cease-fire to lead to a final agreement ending the war in Gaza and leading to the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, but Netanyahu has been steadfast that Hamas has to be militarily defeated before peace is restored.
Public opinion in Israel is split on the issue.
Netanyahu’s stance has been criticized by U.S. President Joe Biden, who said on Sept. 2 that the Israeli prime minister was not doing enough to secure a hostage deal.
Six hostages’ bodies were recovered on Sept. 1 from a tunnel in Rafah, only hours after they were shot dead by their captors.
No More Concessions
Asked by a journalist whether Israel had made enough concessions to achieve a deal on the hostages, Netanyahu said: “We’ve already made them. Hamas has to make the concession.”On Sept. 2, Abu Ubaida, a spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, said new instructions had been given in June to those guarding the hostages regarding what to do if Israeli forces approach their secret locations.
Ubaida said he held Israel responsible for the six hostages’ deaths on Sept. 1.
He did not give details about the new instructions, but he said of the remaining hostages: “Netanyahu’s insistence to free prisoners through military pressure, instead of sealing a deal, means they will be returned to their families in shrouds. Their families must choose whether they want them dead or alive.”
