A heated argument broke out between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant at the Israeli security cabinet meeting on Thursday night over the terms of a deal to secure hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza, with the prime minister expressing his serious intention to do whatever it takes to hold the Philadelphi Corridor, Israeli media reported.
Over the course of time, Gallant and security chiefs have repeatedly pushed Netanyahu to compromise more in the negotiations, especially over the Philadelphi Corridor, fearing that the prime minister’s hard-line positions violate the deal. Now the problem is even worse after a bitter dispute.
Netanyahu reportedly told Gallant that he would prioritise his position on keeping Israeli troops in the Philadelphi Corridor over saving the lives of the remaining hostages in Gaza in the event of any election, the latest evidence of a rift between Netanyahu and the security establishment. He told the ministers during the meeting that Hamas succeeded in carrying out the 7 October onslaught because Israel had no control over the Philadelphi corridor.
He stressed that by maintaining control of the corridor, Israel would prevent another attack of this nature because Hamas would not be able to rearm. According to Netanyahu, a tough stance will make a hostage deal more likely because Hamas will find that it has no choice but to compromise on the issue, just as it did when it agreed to drop its demand for a permanent end to the war as a precondition for a deal.
The Philadelphi Corridor is currently controlled by the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF), and the deployment of Israeli troops along the corridor in the first phase of the ceasefire agreement was a major point of dispute between Israel and Hamas, with Hamas saying that Israeli troops should withdraw from the border area.
Gallant said: “The significance of this is that Hamas won’t agree to it, so there won’t be an agreement and there won’t be any hostages released.” He underlined: “The prime minister can indeed make all the decisions, and he can also decide to kill all the hostages,” adding that at the end of the day he would still listen to Sinwar’s demands, while Netanyahu replied that he does not cave in to anyone’s demands.
Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer insisted on proceeding with the vote on the maps the IDF presented to mediators in Cairo last week, but Gallant said Netanyahu had imposed his position on the security establishment and that the maps presented by the IDF contradicted his position.
Netanyahu demanded an immediate vote on his Philadelphia maps. IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi expressed his own concerns about the prime minister’s strategy: “The IDF will know how to enter and return to the Philadelphi Corridor at the end of the first six weeks of the ceasefire. There are enough constraints in the talks, you don’t need to add another.”
Gallant later asked the prime minister: “If Sinwar presents you with the dilemma: Either you leave Philadelphi or you return the hostages, what do you do?” Netanyahu replied that the importance of keeping the IDF in the corridor was crucial to the state.
According to an unnamed cabinet minister, in contrast to previous disputes between the pair, no one came to Gallant’s defence on Thursday night, believing he had gone too far in his criticism. Thus, the vote seemed symbolic and largely aimed at further broadcasting Israel’s position in the Philadelphi corridor, as maps have already laid out for Hamas and mediators from Egypt, the US and Qatar.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum reacted to the leaked quote from the security cabinet meeting by demanding that Netanyahu publicly state that he has given up the lives of hostages in favour of a continued IDF presence in the Philadelphi Corridor.
“The quotes from the cabinet meeting should cause every Israeli citizen to lose sleep,” the Forum said. “Every citizen should know that if they are to be kidnapped from their bed in their pajamas on a Saturday morning, their prime minister will do everything to keep his seat, even at the cost of leaving them to die in the Hamas tunnels in Gaza.”
In a proposal presented by Hamas earlier this month, the group agreed to a six-week ceasefire during which the sides would discuss the terms of subsequent phases. The offer gives Israel the option to resume hostilities if Hamas comes to be seen as violating the terms of the deal and not negotiating in good faith
