The office quoted Netanyahu as saying: “I do not care about the position of the security and military establishment regarding the Philadelphi corridor. It will remain in Israel’s hands.”
Netanyahu stressed that “if Israel withdraws from the Philadelphi corridor now, the pressure on it will be enormous not to control it again.”
For his part, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said: “We can deal with the situation in the Philadelphi corridor if we leave it for 6 weeks.”
It is worth noting that the Philadelphi Corridor on the Egyptian-Palestinian border was a major point of contention in the ceasefire and prisoner exchange negotiations between the Palestinian factions and Israel, as Tel Aviv insists that the Israeli army remain in full control of this corridor.
For its part, the Egyptian authorities rejected this matter completely, indicating that Israeli control over the border passage is considered a violation of the peace agreement signed between the two countries.
The Salah al-Din Axis or the Philadelphi Axis is a narrow border strip inside the Gaza Strip, extending 14 km along the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt. According to the provisions of the 1979 Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty, and after the “Oslo II Agreement” in 1995, Israel agreed to keep the axis along the border as a safe zone.
One of the main purposes of the axis was to prevent the smuggling of illicit materials (including illegal weapons, ammunition and drugs), and also to prevent illegal immigration between the two regions.
The Palestinians resorted to digging smuggling tunnels under the Philadelphi Corridor to bring some food and supplies into the Gaza Strip with the help of some Egyptians, in light of the siege imposed on the Strip, as the tunnels were one of the most important ways for goods to enter the Strip, before the Egyptian army destroyed them during its military campaign in the Sinai Peninsula.
Source: RT
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2024-08-27 08:02:03
