From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, September 3, 2024
US says Israel agreed to withdraw from parts of Philadelphi route, mum on details
Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief
The White House says that an Israel-approved framework for a hostage deal meant to close gaps between the sides includes an IDF withdrawal from heavily populated areas along the Philadelphi Corridor, a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Israel must keep its forces deployed on the Gaza-Egypt border stretch and would do so for the foreseeable future.
“The deal itself, including the bridging proposal that we started working with… includes the removal of Israeli Defense Forces from all densely populated areas… in phase one… and that includes those areas along and adjacent to that corridor,” says White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby in a briefing with reporters. “That’s the proposal that Israel had agreed to.”
Kirby declines to clarify when asked whether this means that the US supports allowing Israeli troops to remain in less densely populated areas along the Philadelphi Corridor.
While reiterating the deal’s requirement for Israel to at least partially withdraw from Philadelphi, the White House spokesperson acknowledges that Jerusalem is publicly stressing that it “would need some security along that corridor.”
“I’m not going to get into a debate with the prime minister over what he said over the weekend,” Kirby says.
Netanyahu argued yesterday that allowing troops to withdraw from the Gaza-Egypt border, which Israel says is a major smuggling artery, would result in arms and equipment for making weapons and digging tunnels again being smuggled into the Strip and the possibility of hostages being smuggled out.
He said Israel would retain control of the Philadelphi Corridor for the foreseeable future, describing its presence there as crucial to preventing Hamas from rearming, and vital to Israel’s future.
