Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited IDF troops in Rafah on Thursday and said that Israel's insistence on control of the Philadelphi corridor along Gaza's border with Egypt and the Rafah border crossing would help secure the release of Israeli hostages held by Hamas since October 7. "The outline of the deal along with our military pressure does not delay an agreement," he said in Rafah. "It advances it."
Netanyahu is expected to convene a meeting of the delegations to the cease-fire talks and his close ministers later on Thursday. Officials in the delegation said they hope the prime minister would formulate a policy on the issues still outstanding so that progress toward a deal could be made. Israel has not yet presented its position on the Philadelphi corridor and on how to prevent weapons from being smuggled into the Strip for Hamas.
According to a report in the Saudi Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper, sources said that Israeli, American and Palestinian officials met in Tel Aviv last week to discuss who would have authority over the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, in the first phase of the cease-fire in exchange for hostages deal.
The report said that the Biden administration was looking for compromise solutions to outstanding issues that are preventing a final agreement between the sides. Among them is a suggestion that the Palestinian Authority would manage the Rafah border crossing while the U.S. and Egypt would control the Philadelphi Corridor without the presence of IDF troops. In the northern part of Gaza, they suggested, Israel would monitor the return of civilians from the air, rather than by troops on the ground.