‘A demand that will prevent a deal’: Officials said to slam Netanyahu’s toughened stance

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s renewed demand for any Gaza truce deal to prevent the return of weapons and armed terrorists to the Strip’s north violates prior agreements with mediators and will complicate or even thwart negotiations, according to unnamed senior security sources cited by Channel 12 news.

Netanyahu included that demand in a list he issued yesterday of new conditions for a deal.

The network cites sources familiar with the talks as saying that in its May 27 response to mediators, Israel gave up its initial demand to maintain control of the so-called Netzarim Corridor, which currently splits the Strip in two and prevents the return of gunmen to the northern part.

“The demand to monitor everyone moving north is a retraction of our concession on the matter,” one source is quoted as saying. “The IDF will know how to deal with the situation even if armed fighters return to the north, and we can find a solution with the Americans.

“This is a demand that will prevent a deal,” the source says. “In the best case, it is an obstacle that will make the continuation [of talks] more difficult, and in the worst case, it is aimed as a spoke in the negotiations’ wheel and at eliminating the ability to reach a deal.

“We are in a crucial two days for the deal to succeed. It’s either now or in a very long time, perhaps never. Prime Minister Netanyahu added demands that deviate from the agreements with the mediators.”