Newly revealed document shows PM made major changes to US-backed hostage deal outline
Copy of proposal submitted on July 27 shows Netanyahu required ongoing IDF presence on Philadelphi route, made changes regarding Rafah Crossing plans and more
Photographed pages and the content of a document said to be the amended hostage release-ceasefire deal proposal submitted by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on July 27 were published by the Ynet news site (Hebrew link) on Tuesday. The published material — which includes maps, lists of names of hostages, snippets of the English text and Hebrew translations of text — spell out for the first time the differences between the May 27 Israeli proposal revealed by US President Joe Biden and the changes made by the premier two months later, including the demand for a permanent Israeli presence along the Philadelphi Corridor.
On July 7, Netanyahu presented Israel’s hostage negotiating team with a list of what he said were four nonnegotiable demands that must be met in order for Israel to move ahead with the US-backed proposal. Included among the demands was the stipulation that Israel must remain in control of the Philadelphi Corridor, which runs along the Gaza-Egypt border, as well as the Netzarim Corridor and the Rafah border crossing.
While the premier has continued to insist that he did not add anything to the hostage deal proposal, and simply clarified the stipulations that had already been laid out, the stipulation did not feature in the May 27 proposal, but, according to Ynet, is present in the amended version, known as the “clarification document” but dubbed the “Netanyahu Outline.”
Withdrawal from urban areas in the Gaza Strip
The May 27 proposal states that by the seventh day of the first phase of the deal, “Israeli forces will completely withdraw from Rasheed Street eastwards to Salah ad-Din Street, and the complete dismantling of military sites and installations in the area, the commencement of return of internally displaced to their place of residence (without carrying arms while returning), the freedom of movement of the population in all areas of the Gaza strip.”
It further adds that by the 22nd day of the 42-day initial phase, Israeli forces must “withdraw from the central Gaza strip (especially Netzarim axis and Kuwait roundabout axis) eastwards of Salah ad-Din Street to an area along the border, the complete dismantling of military sites and installations, the continuation of return of internally displaced to their place of residence (without carrying arms while returning) in northern Gaza Strip, and the freedom movement of the population in all areas of the Gaza Strip.”
In contrast, the Netanyahu Outline presented a significantly shorter explanation as to how Israeli troops will withdraw in the event of a ceasefire.
According to Ynet, it stated that “the redeployment of the IDF troops will be carried out in accordance with the attached maps.” Two of the attached maps were unchanged from those presented as part of the May 27 proposal, Ynet reported, but the third was new. It showed that while the Israeli presence would be reduced along the Philadelphi Corridor, troops would not entirely withdraw.
The issue of the Philadelphi Corridor has become increasingly contentious in recent weeks, as Hamas has continued to insist that it will tolerate nothing less than a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from the border route.
Netanyahu has doubled down on his demands, however, insisting that it is crucial for Israeli troops to remain stationed along the Philadelphi Corridor to prevent resumed weapons smuggling, which would allow for the revival of Hamas after the war. At a press conference on Monday evening, Netanyahu described Israeli control of the Philadelphi Corridor for the foreseeable future as being “central” and determining Israel’s “entire future” and made clear he would not sanction even a temporary withdrawal to enable the first phase of deal, during which some 30 living hostages would potentially be released.
The security establishment has pushed the government for more flexibility on the Philadelphi issue, fearing Netanyahu’s stance will further drag out or doom the talks, risking the lives of the hostages, and arguing that Israel would be able to return to the corridor if need be.
The recovery of the bodies of six hostages from Gaza by the IDF on Saturday night, all of whom had been executed by their Hamas captors just days earlier, further heightened the disagreements on the matter, with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant reportedly calling it an “unnecessary constraint that we’ve placed upon ourselves.”
He had previously warned that Netanyahu’s stubborn insistence on the matter was running out the clock for the hostages who are still alive.
Checkpoints for displaced Gazans returning home
The July 27 document drawn up by Netanyahu stated, as the May 27 outline did, that Gazan civilians returning to their homes in the north of the Strip were required to be unarmed.
However, while the original proposal had — with approval from the IDF — removed the stipulation from earlier texts that civilians must be checked for weapons before being allowed past a certain point, the Netanyahu Outline added it back in.
The return without weapons “will be guaranteed and implemented in a pre-approved manner,” the July document states.
Release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian security prisoners
In the US-backed hostage release-ceasefire deal outline, it was stated that during the first phase of a deal, “Hamas shall release 33 of the Israeli hostages (living and human remains) who are women (civilians and soldiers), children (under 19 years who are not soldiers), elderly (above 50 years) and ill and wounded civilians, in exchange for a number of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons and detention centers.”
While the classification of humanitarian hostages remained the same in Netanyahu’s outline, he drew up a list naming the 33 hostages whom Israel expected to be released.
A document published by Ynet on Monday indicated that Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Carmel Gat and Eden Yerushalmi, three of the six hostages murdered by Hamas at the end of last week, had been slated for release during the first phase of a potential deal. A fourth murdered hostage, Almog Sarusi, was also set for release in the first phase of a deal.
Speaking to Ynet, an unnamed official alleged that Netanyahu likely knew that issuing a list of hostages before the deal was even signed would delay negotiations.
“Netanyahu’s trick was to ensure a debate about who can be defined as ‘sick,'” the official said. “Hamas can claim that in its opinion, so-and-so is not sick, or not sick enough to be included in the list [of humanitarian releases], and there you go — you’re once again stuck in weeks or months worth of arguments.”
With regard to Palestinian security prisoners, the May 27 document stated that as part of the hostages-for-prisoners exchange, “an agreed upon number of prisoners (at least 50) with a life sentence will be released abroad or in Gaza.”
The item was amended in Netanyahu’s outline, and the mention of Gaza was removed, leaving only an option for the prisoners to be deported upon release.
Reopening Rafah Crossing
The final change demanded by Netanyahu to the May 27 proposal was with regard to the Rafah Crossing on the Gaza-Egypt border.
The crossing has been closed since the IDF moved into Rafah on May 7, as Egypt has said it refuses to reopen the gateway until it is back under Palestinian control, to avoid being seen as complicit with Israel’s military operation in the southernmost Gaza city of the same name.
In the May proposal, it is stated that: “After all Israeli female soldiers have been released, permitting the number to be agreed upon of wounded military individuals to travel to the Rafah crossing to receive medical treatment, and the increase in the number of travelers and ill and wounded through the Rafah crossing and removal of restrictions on travel and return of movement of goods and trade.”
The wording of the item was altered slightly in Netanyahu’s outline, Ynet reported, and stated that “arrangements would be made to reopen the Rafah Crossing,” rather than committing to a definite reopening.
‘The document of blood’
Speaking to Ynet, an unnamed Israeli official lamented Netanyahu’s changes to the US-backed proposal, and accused him of intentionally sabotaging the protracted efforts to reach a deal with Hamas.
“History will one day judge this document very harshly,” the official said. “In my opinion, the most fitting nickname for it is the ‘document of blood’ — because its pages are stained with the blood of the six hostages who were murdered in the tunnel in Rafah.”
“If it weren’t for the intentional sabotage within this document, intended to prevent a deal, there is a good chance that they would have been released last month and would be here with us, alive,” the official added.
The Hostages Families Forum said on Tuesday evening that the publication of the so-called Netanyahu Outline meant that the premier could “no longer claim that he is not torpedoing or thwarting the deal.”
The document is “another nail in the coffin for the deal that would return the hostages,” it continued. “Enough with the deception and the abandonment. Enough about lying to the public and enough with the spins about Philadelphi. For how long will the hostages be murdered in captivity while Netanyahu plays with maps and public opinion?”
It is believed that 97 of the 251 hostages abducted by Hamas on October 7 remain in Gaza, including the bodies of at least 33 confirmed dead by the IDF.
Hamas released 105 civilians during a weeklong truce in late November, and four hostages were released before that.
Eight hostages have been rescued by troops alive, and the bodies of 37 hostages have also been recovered, including three mistakenly killed by the military as they tried to escape their captors. Hamas is also holding two Israeli civilians who entered the Strip in 2014 and 2015, as well as the bodies of two IDF soldiers who were killed in 2014.
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
