JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has locked horns with Israeli ceasefire negotiators over his insistence that Israel will not pull out of the so-called Philadelphi Corridor in the south of the Gaza Strip, a person with knowledge of the talks said.
The Philadelphi Corridor, along the border with Egypt, and the Netzarim Corridor cutting across the middle of the Gaza Strip, have been two of the main sticking points in talks backed by Egypt, Qatar and the United States.
Netanyahu has repeatedly insisted that Israel will not give up control of the Philadelphi Corridor because it wants to prevent Hamas smuggling weapons and fighters across the border with Egypt. He has also said Israel must maintain checkpoints in the Netzarim Corridor to stop armed Hamas fighters moving from the southern section of the Gaza Strip into the north.
The person said Netanyahu had agreed to shift one Philadelphi position by a few hundred metres but would retain overall control of the corridor, despite pressure from members of his own negotiating team for more concessions.
“The prime minister insists that this situation will continue, contrary to pressure from certain elements in the negotiating team who are willing to withdraw from there,” said the person, who has close knowledge of the negotiations.
Israel’s Channel 12 television reported this week that Netanyahu had been bitterly critical of the negotiating team, led by David Barnea, the chief of the Mossad intelligence service, for being willing to make too many concessions.
More than 10 months after the Oct. 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war, the United States has been pressing Israel for an end to hostilities.
Hamas-led gunmen killed some 1,200 people and abducted around 250 hostages on Oct.7, according to Israeli tallies, while Israeli bombardments have laid waste to Gaza and killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, according to health officials in the enclave.
Netanyahu has been under heavy pressure to reach a deal from families of some of the Israeli hostages who remain in Gaza and many have been strongly critical of the failure to reach a deal, joining critics have accused him of hindering a deal for his own political purposes.
But with pressure from hardliners in his own cabinet against any concessions, and with opinion polls indicating a pick-up in the disastrous ratings he had at the start of the war, the prime minister has said repeatedly he aims for total victory over Hamas.
(Reporting by Emily Rose; writing by James Mackenzie; editing by Giles Elgood)
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