Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is making clear that his forces won’t conform to Hamas’ calls for to vacate Gaza, for 2 essential causes – general nationwide safety and making certain the protected return of the remaining hostages nonetheless in Hamas captivity.
Considerations proceed to mount that Hamas may look to smuggle a few of the remaining 97 Israeli hostages nonetheless in captivity into the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, which has lengthy been deemed a haven for Islamic militant teams, and the place they may then be transported to Yemen or Iran.
Based on Netanyahu, one of the best ways to forestall these Hamas hostage smuggling efforts is thru sustaining the contested Philadelphi Route – a safety hall that runs between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu factors at a map of the Gaza Strip throughout a press convention on the Authorities Press Workplace (GPO) in Jerusalem on September 4, 2024. (Abir Sultan/POOL/AFP through Getty Photos)
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“Hol[d] the Philadelphi corridor, because that possesses Hamas, that prevents them from rearming,” Netanhyu advised Fox and Associates’ Brian Kilmeade. “It prevents Gaza from becoming this Iranian terror enclave again, which can threaten our existence.
“However it is also the best way to forestall them from smuggling hostages . . . into Egypt, into the Sinai, the place they may disappear,” he added. “Then they will find yourself in Iran or in Yemen, they usually’re misplaced endlessly.”
The prime minster’s comments echoed a report by The Jewish Chronicle that said Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar was hashing out a secret plan to smuggle himself, other Hamas leadership and some of the remaining Israeli hostages out of Gaza through the Philadelphi corridor before heading to Iran.
The chronicle cited Israeli intelligence sources, though other Israeli news outlets refuted the reporting Thursday, and Fox News Digital could not independently verify the intelligence.
In his remarks to Fox News, Netanyahu did not expand on the leverage Hamas could gain by smuggling the hostages out of Gaza, but securing the hostages’ release has increasingly taken center stage in the ceasefire negotiations.
Following the assassination of six Israeli hostages who had been held prisoner by Hamas since the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks, and who were found in the tunnels mined by the terrorist organization last month, Netanyahu has increased his opposition to U.S. efforts to push through a cease-fire agreement.
American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, along with Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Carmel Gat, 40, Alex Lobanov, 32, Almog Sarusi, 27, and Ori Danino, 25, ‘brutally murdered’ by Hamas right before rescue – IDF. (Fox News)
Three of the hostages killed were reportedly supposed to be part of an exchange under a cease-fire deal proposed in July, but which never came to fruition.
“We’re doing the whole lot we are able to to get the rest [out],” Netanhyu said. “However Hamas persistently refuses to make a deal.”
Details of the ceasefire agreement put forward by the U.S., Qatar and Egypt have remained closely guarded for months, and reporting for weeks has suggested that the most recent deal signed on by Israel, but rebuffed by Hamas, was down to Jerusalem’s refusal to vacate the Philadelphi Route.
“It is only a direct falsehood,” he said, noting that it is about more than just holding onto the corridor.
“What we’ve got to do is to make it possible for we do two issues,” Netanyahu said. “One, get the hostages out. And second, hold the crimson traces which can be mandatory for Israel’s safety and survival.
“I think both of them go through holding the Philadelphi corridor,” he added.
Regardless of Netanyahu’s robust opposition to ceding any maintain of the strategic route and Hamas’ obvious refusal at hand over extra hostages till Israel stops its operations in Gaza, Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday mentioned that negotiations had been making important headway.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu chairs a cupboard assembly on the Kirya navy base, which homes the Israeli Ministry of Protection, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Dec. 24, 2023. High U.S. leaders have invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ship an handle to Congress. The go to would supply a present of wartime assist for the longtime ally regardless of mounting political divisions over Israel’s navy assault on Gaza. The invitation from Home Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican, and Senate Majority Chief Chuck Schumer, a Democrat, and the opposite leaders has been within the works for a while. (AP Picture/Ohad Zwigenberg, Pool, File)
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“I think based on what I’ve seen, 90 percent is agreed, but there are a few critical issues that remain where we need to be able to get agreement,” he advised reporters. “Much of this has been discussed in recent days, including the Philadelphi corridor, including some of the exact specifics of how hostages and prisoners are exchanged.
“So that continues to be, however just about the whole lot else is there,” he added.
Blinken said he expects in the “coming days” that an updated deal will be shared by Egypt and Qatar with Hamas and by the U.S. with Israel in an attempt to shore up a cease-fire agreement.
“Then it will likely be time actually for the events to resolve sure or no, after which we’ll see,” he added.
