An Israeli team is in Cairo for negotiations on the hostage deal, while the security cabinet met in Tel Aviv and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Al Thani is expected to head to Iran early next week.
Thursday’s Cairo talks come amid a stiff debate about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s firm stance that the IDF must maintain a presence in the Philadelphi Corridor. He has stressed that he will not accept any hostage deal that calls for Israel to withdraw from that corridor. Hamas in turn has insisted Israel must fully withdraw from the corridor.
Philadelphi Corridor a significant factor in talks
The Prime Minister’s Office stressed that “Netanyahu insists on the principle that Israel control the Philadelphi Corridor in order to prevent Hamas from rearming itself, which would afford it the capability of repeating the atrocities of October 7.”
It also rejected a report that suggested a resolution to the issue could be a “multi-national force along the Philadelphi Corridor.”
That corridor is considered to be a critical buffer zone between Egypt and Gaza. Any plan for IDF troops to remain in that corridor would need agreement from Egypt.
Egypt and Qatar have been the main mediators for the deal to secure the return of the remaining 109 hostages, with the help of the US. Al Thani has been a critical part of the negotiations and was part of the Doha talks that took place last week.
Israel’s security cabinet met Thursday night in advance of an expected high-level summit in Egypt over the weekend or early next week on the hostages, as Israel remains braced for a retaliatory strike by Iran and its proxy group Hezbollah.
The US has hoped that a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal would thwart reprisal attacks by Iran and Hezbollah, which Washington fears would spark a regional war.
Thursday’s Cairo talks were expected to seek resolutions on Philadelphi in advance of the higher-level summit.US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Israel, Egypt, and Qatar on Monday and Tuesday to set the ground for those high-level talks, which the US has described as end-game negotiations.
US lead negotiator CIA Director Bill Burns, Mossad chief David Barnea, Al Thani, and Egypt’s lead negotiator are expected to attend those high-level Cairo talks.
Former IDF chief of staff Gadi Eisenkot, now an MK in a high-level position in the National Unity Party, told Army Radio that Netanyahu was treating the Philadelphi as if it was the “Western Wall.”
Netanyahu can afford to be flexible on the issue and come up with long-term solutions later and focus instead now on the hostages, whose lives are at risk on a daily basis, he said.
Russian Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Dmitry A. Polyanskiy said Thursday in New York that the UN Security Council should push a new Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal.
“Let’s pass a new document which would send an unequivocal signal to the spoilers that what they are doing will not be allowed to happen with impunity,” Polyanskiy told the UNSC as it held its monthly meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
That resolution should have a “toolbox which could help end violence, regardless of the whims displayed by any of the sides to the conflict,” he said.
The UNSC in June had endorsed the Gaza deal US President Joe Biden had unveiled on May 31, with Russia abstaining. Both Israel and Hamas accepted the framework of that agreement but the US has struggled to bridge the gaps between the sides with respect to its implementation.
Two weeks ago the US put forward a bridging proposal which Israel has accepted, that appeared to leave open the debate on the Philadelphi Corridor.
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas Greenfield blamed Hamas for the impasse and asked the UNSC to pressure Hamas to accept the proposal.
“Israel has accepted the bridging proposal. Now, Hamas must do the same,” Thomas-Greenfield said.
“As members of this council, we must speak with one voice, and we must use our leverage to press Hamas to accept the bridging proposal which includes massive and immediate benefits for the Palestinians in Gaza and incorporates a number of Hamas’ earlier demands,” she stressed.
Polanskiy blamed Netanyahu and the US.
“We continue thinking it’s unacceptable that members of the Security Council in June signed off on an obviously false statement in the American resolution, where it said that Israel supposedly had already agreed to the proposed deal,” Polyanskiy said.
Israel “had no intention of stopping their military operation in Gaza,” he said.
Now the US is pushing an amended deal that suits Israel that the UNSC never endorsed, he said.
“According to the information we have, Israel is now insisting on keeping the idea of military presence in Gaza, including their control over the crossing with Egypt and the Philadelphi corridor,” Polyanskiy explained.
“We do note that such a change as to the parameters of the deal is also something that some countries in the region are vehemently objective,” he said.
Thomas-Greenfield assured the council that the bridging proposal was in line with the original document, as she pledged US support for Israel’s security.
“No one in the region should take any action that would undermine ongoing negotiations,” Thomas-Greenfield said.“Colleagues, this is a decisive moment. It’s a decisive moment for ceasefire talks and for the region. And so, every member of this council should continue to send strong messages to other actors in the region to avoid actions that would move us away from finalizing this deal,” she stressed.
Late Wednesday night US President Joe Biden spoke with Netanyahu about the urgency of reaching a hostage and ceasefire deal.
“The President stressed the urgency of bringing the ceasefire and hostage release deal to closure and discussed upcoming talks in Cairo to remove any remaining obstacle,” the White House said after the call, which included Vice President Kamala Harris.
Biden and Netanyahu, the White House said, “discussed active and ongoing US efforts to support Israel’s defense against all threats from Iran, including its proxy terrorist groups Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis, to include ongoing defensive US military deployments.”
Reuters contributed to this report.
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