On Thursday, Israel’s security cabinet approved Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s demand that the IDF remain in the Philadelphi corridor as a condition for any hostage-ceasefire agreement.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant opposed the measure, while National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir abstained due to his concerns about the planned gradual reduction of troops.
The approval was largely symbolic, as the maps detailing the IDF’s intent to stay in the Philadelphi corridor, near Gaza’s border with Egypt, were already included in the US’s “bridging proposal” for the hostage-ceasefire deal, which was presented to both Hamas and mediators in the US and Egypt.
Hamas and Egypt oppose Israel’s continued presence in the Philadelphi corridor.
Netanyahu’s requirement for Israel to remain in the Philadelphi corridor was added to the hostage-ceasefire proposal last month, and critics argue that it has hindered Hamas’s approval of the deal.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, representing Israel’s security establishment, opposed this condition, viewing it as a further obstacle to finalizing the hostage-ceasefire agreement.
Gallant also cautioned that without a deal, Israel could face an “imminent deterioration into a multifront war.”
Netanyahu insists that October 7th wouldn’t have happened if the IDF had a presence in the Philadelphi corridor to prevent weapons smuggling.
