The Egyptian government will tacitly allow Israeli military units to remain deployed in the Philadelphi Corridor as part of a negotiated peace agreement to end the war in Gaza, according to a Tuesday report by Al-Akhbar.
The Lebanese newspaper stated that although Cairo has officially expressed its disapproval of the Jewish state’s ground forces maintaining a holding mission along the strategic border location, sources have revealed that the leadership of the North African nation will privately accept the "continuation of the Israeli presence."
The disclosure follows a report by Middle East Eye on Monday, where three Egyptian officials informed the U.K.-based news outlet that their country was willing to accept Israel's continued security oversight in exchange for allowing Palestinian administration of the Rafah Crossing, the main international entry point shared with Gaza.
The Philadelphi Corridor is a nine-mile demilitarized zone that runs along Gaza’s southern boundary. The area has reportedly become a major obstacle in ceasefire talks due to Hamas’s demand that all IDF personnel stationed there be removed as part of any resolution to the ten-month-long conflict.
Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has steadfastly opposed any withdrawal from the territory, citing the district’s longtime use by terrorist groups to smuggle contraband into the coastal enclave via a sophisticated network of illicit tunnels.
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