Philadelphia Corridor, Netanyahu's last obstacle to ending the war

3 min read EUGENIO GARCIA GASCON 0 comments

EUGENIO GARCIA GASCON

The Philadelphia Corridor is a narrow belt 100 meters wide and 14 kilometers long that runs parallel to and along the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. The name Philadelphia (without the letter a at the end) was chosen at random by the Israeli army, while the Palestinians and Egyptians call it the Saladin Corridor.

In recent months, this has become very important, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded that any ceasefire agreement with Hamas include the permanence of Israeli troops in that axis. In contrast, the Islamist organisation's position is that any agreement should include the complete withdrawal of soldiers from the entire Gaza Strip, including the Philadelphia corridor.

Maintaining troops in that corridor is a key issue for Benjamin Netanyahu, who believes that if the soldiers are withdrawn, Hamas will be able to rearm easily and the threats made by the Palestinian organization could be repeated, possibly leading to another surprise attack similar to that of October 7, 2023, when some 1.200 Israelis died in the south of the country.

The Biden administration has asked Netanyahu to give up his position in the Philadelphia corridor, something the prime minister has vehemently refused to do, even though Israeli military officials insist that the presence of troops is not essential to control surface movements in the corridor.

Another issue is the underground tunnels that connect the Strip with Egypt, which have been used for many years by Palestinian groups to smuggle weapons into the Strip. This has been a major problem for Israel, which has tried in the past to neutralize it in vain, since weapons and ammunition have continued to circulate freely through the tunnels.

In this context, Netanyahu held a rare press conference on September 2 to stress his position on the Philadelphia corridor. He basically reiterated what he had said on previous occasions, namely that any agreement with Hamas must respect the permanent presence of Israeli soldiers on that axis, something he defined as “vital” for the Jewish state.

His critics in Israel and the United States accuse him of trying to keep the war going for as long as possible in order to stay in power. According to the opposition, Netanyahu does not want to leave the Strip because it would make it easier for him to remain prime minister and neutralise his political rivals.

At the press conference, Netanyahu attacked the argument of the opposition and military leaders that the army could return to the Philadelphia corridor at any time if circumstances demanded it. Netanyahu said that the same opposition had previously said that the army would return to Lebanon if necessary after the evacuation in 2000, but that this did not happen, and that it is one thing to talk and another to keep one's word. According to him, the same would happen on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.

Another argument used by his detractors to deny the “vital” importance of the Philadelphia corridor is that in the first eight months of the war, i.e. until May 29, Netanyahu never referred to the Philadelphia corridor as a major issue, nor did he mention it as a war objective. According to this version, Netanyahu only brought up the issue with the intention of disrupting the ongoing negotiations with Hamas, in which the United States is participating, and suddenly it became a priority.

At this point, the Philadelphia axis has become the main obstacle to a ceasefire. The army, especially the air force, continues to bomb the Strip in a random manner, causing dozens of deaths every day, particularly of women and children. At this stage of the war, it is clear that Netanyahu does not want to end these attacks, claiming that in this way he is putting pressure on Hamas to release the hostages.

The situation of the dozens of hostages still alive is very precarious. In early September, soldiers found the bodies of six captives who had been executed only a short time before in a tunnel in the south of the Gaza Strip. The United States has warned Israel that the proximity of the troops puts the hostages in mortal danger, as can be deduced from this latest incident. Although this circumstance should give Netanyahu pause, everything indicates that he will not give in on the issue of the corridor, even at the risk of the lives of the hostages.