Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a video statement released on Monday, defied all international and domestic pressure to relinquish Israeli armed control over the Gaza-Egypt border for a Hostage- return and Ceasefire deal with the militant group Hamas.
Netanyahu defies Ceasefire demands
Though the Ceasefire deal has reportedly been many months in the making, Israel and Hamas were unable to negotiate and reach terms mutually agreed upon, despite recent efforts from mediators like Qatar, Egypt and U.S. The southern- Gaza area, bordering Egypt, which the Israelis call the Philadelphi Corridor has been a point of repeated discord between the two parties for weeks.
In a press conference on Sunday, the PM began by apologizing for the deaths of the six Israeli hostages, after which he quickly began defending his decision to not relinquish control over the Philadelphi Corridor. Calling it “a political- strategic issue”, he claimed that the “axis of evil” (alluding to Hamas) required access to the Philadelphi corridor. He insisted that they must not surrender under diplomatic pressure as it would send the wrong message to Hamas, which would then “kill more hostages” to extract additional “concessions” from Israel.
The Philadelphi Corridor began to cause conflict only in May, prior to which Israel had agreed to the plan President Biden had presented. While Hamas has been insistent on the absence of Israeli troops from the area, Israeli authorities claimed to have uncovered several tunnels running through the region, which they said allowed Hamas to smuggle arms and weapons.
Hamas has mocked the PM’s refusal to withdraw the Israeli army from the border, saying that Netanyahu is prioritizing strategic advantage over the safety of the hostages. Hmas had further issued a warning on Monday stating that the hostages would be re-entering Israel in “coffins” if the military pressure was not mitigated.
Internal Protests in Israel
The Hostage- return and Ceasefire deal has gathered a renewed fervour in the international community and within Israel itself after the bodies of six Israeli hostages were found in tunnels last week. While Hamas announced that their deaths had been caused due to Israeli strikes on Gaza, Tel Aviv has declared that the hostages had lost their lives after being shot in the back.
The Histadrut Trade Union Federation called a strike on Monday to communicate the urgency for a hostage- swap deal. However, a labour court quickly ordered that the protests could only continue till 2:30 p.m. This order was even celebrated by far- right members of Netanyahu’s government
Opposition leader and Netanyahu’s rival Yair Lapid stated that the Prime Minister’s justification of refraining from the present Ceasefire terms had no “relation to reality”. Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has also stood against Israel’s decision on the Philadelphi Corridor and asked the government to reverse it.
Diplomatic pressure for a Ceasefire deal
U.S President Biden has consulted his top officials- Antony Blinken, Jake Sullivan and others to prepare a “final” proposal for the hostage- release and ceasefire deal. The proposal in the works now is reported to be a “take it or leave it” one, after which the U.S might cease making attempts at securing a deal between the two parties.
The six deceased hostages also prompted the U.K Foreign Secretary – David Lammy– to suspend thirty arms export licenses to Tel Aviv.
