Israeli negotiators hold talks in Cairo amid deep disagreements over Philadelphi Corridor
Sources say progress on hostage-truce deal in jeopardy over Netanyahu’s insistence on continued IDF deployment along Egypt-Gaza border; PMO denies he’d accept international force there
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
Israel’s negotiating team flew to Cairo on Thursday for talks aimed at producing a hostage-truce deal with Hamas, an Israeli official told The Times of Israel, as chances for an immediate breakthrough appeared increasingly remote.
The team was headed by Mossad chief David Barnea, and included Maj. Gen. Eliezer Toledano, head of the IDF General Staff Strategy and Third-Circle Directorate.
CIA chief William Burns, the top American negotiator on the hostage issue, is leading the US team, CNN reported.
The Cairo negotiations took place amid dwindling expectations for significant progress in the near future for a deal that would see Israeli hostages released by Hamas in exchange for an extended pause in the fighting in Gaza and the release of many Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences for murdering Israelis.
A central sticking point in the talks is whether the IDF will continue to hold the Gaza-Egypt border area in the event of a deal. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists that an Israeli presence on the Philadelphi Corridor is vital to preventing Hamas from re-arming, while Hamas says Israeli forces must withdraw entirely.
Disagreements over Israel’s future military presence in Gaza and over Palestinian prisoner releases are obstructing the ceasefire-for-hostages deal, 10 sources familiar with the round of US-mediated talks that concluded last week told Reuters.
All the sources said Hamas was especially concerned about the latest demand to keep troops deployed along the Netzarim Corridor, an east-west strip Israel cleared during the current war that prevents Palestinians’ free movement between north and south Gaza, as well as in the narrow border strip between Gaza and Egypt.
Hamas sees Israel as having changed its conditions and parameters “last-minute,” and worries any concessions it makes would be met by more demands, one of the sources, who is close to the talks, told Reuters.
Netanyahu sent Israel’s negotiators to Cairo with updated maps showing a reduced IDF deployment along the Philadelphi Corridor, according to Channel 12.
The question now is whether Netanyahu’s latest position will be enough for Egypt to press Hamas into accepting a deal, the Thursday night TV report said. If there is the possibility of some kind of breakthrough, there could be a follow-up meeting on Sunday.
In a separate report, Channel 12 quoted Egyptian sources saying Hamas is prepared to consider an arrangement whereby international forces are deployed both at the Philadelphi Corridor and at the Netzarim Corridor separating the south of the strip from the north.
Egypt is prepared to take more security measures in the Philadelphi corridor but rejects the presence of Israeli troops there, Egyptian security sources told Reuters.
According to the Qatari Al-Araby Al-Jadeed newspaper, the Israeli delegation came to Cairo with a new proposal that would have a United Nations monitoring mission permanently deployed at a number of fixed points along the Gaza-Egypt border. The European Union would have a mission at the Rafah Crossing along with the Palestinian Authority, according to the plan. IDF troops would gradually withdraw from the border, said the report.
The Prime Minister’s Office put out a statement earlier Thursday denying reports that he would agree to an international force on the Philadelphi Corridor.
“Prime Minister Netanyahu insists on the principle that Israel will control the Philadelphi route, to prevent the rearming of Hamas, which would allow it the ability to repeat the atrocities of October 7,” the PMO said.
Channel 12 also said Hamas is prepared to let Israel veto up to 50 of the hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners it wants released, while Israel wants the right to veto 65 of the most dangerous potential releases. And it said Hamas is prepared to allow Israel to send more prisoners into exile than previously; Israel wants the right to exile 150.
Additionally, the report said, Israel’s maps showing troop deployments and the timing of IDF withdrawals are not entirely clear to Hamas.
An Israeli official stressed to The Times of Israel on Thursday that “the prime minister stands behind the principle that Israel will rule the Philadelphi Route.”
The official said that “there is a reason we agreed” to the US bridging proposal offered in Doha last week, and that it meets Israel’s security demands.
But Netanyahu’s own negotiating team — Mossad chief Barnea, Shin Bet head Ronen Bar and IDF point man Nitzan Alon — is reportedly at odds with their boss over his demands in negotiations.
Netanyahu has been telling “political elements” in recent days that the negotiating team is weak and constantly seeking to compromise in the talks, while he is “on my own” trying to protect Israel’s security needs, Channel 12 reported.
Netanyahu has been widely reported to have repeatedly upbraided the negotiators face-to-face for their ostensible weakness. But the television report Thursday evening said he is now sharing these criticisms with political interlocutors.
The report noted that it is surprising that Netanyahu would be criticizing his security chiefs in comments to politicians, when he is depending on the security establishment to achieve “total victory” in Gaza and to handle a potential regional escalation if there is no deal.
“I’m on my own, facing the entire security establishment and the negotiating chiefs,” the TV report quoted Netanyahu saying. “They are showing weakness and just looking for ways to capitulate, while I’m insisting on the interests of the State of Israel and am not prepared to concede to demands that would harm security.”
The negotiators, said the report, do not regard the prime minister’s insistence on an Israeli presence on the Philadelphi Corridor as essential, but rather as a “spoke in the wheels” of the talks. The IDF only moved to capture the Philadelphi Corridor in May, eight months into the war.
The report said the Philadelphi Corridor was a “central issue” in Wednesday night’s phone call between Netanyahu, US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, and that the premier said during the call he would show flexibility.
Regardless of whether there is a deal or not, Israel will continue to fight to achieve its war aims, said the Israeli official: “We are fighting Hamas as if there are no negotiations, and we are negotiating as if there is no war.”
“The prime minister’s position is that we must apply military and diplomatic pressure on Hamas to reach a deal,” continued the official. “The military pressure is continuing, in parallel with diplomatic pressure from the mediating countries.”
A deal does not mean the war is over, the official emphasized.
“So long as Hamas doesn’t agree to a deal, we will continue fighting,” said the official. “Even if they do, the war will continue.”
“Of course, if there is a deal, there will be a lull in the fighting in the first stage,” the official said. “But we will continue fighting until we achieve all of our war aims.”
