Israeli negotiators have agreed to withdraw all IDF personnel from the Gaza border in the second phase of a proposed ceasefire agreement, according to a report by Haaretz.
The newspaper reported that shortly before Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held a press conference on Monday, declaring the intention of the Jewish state’s armed forces to remain in the Philadelphi Corridor indefinitely, Mossad chief David Barnea informed Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani that Jerusalem was willing to accept a revised deployment schedule.
The apparent amended policy comes as a source revealed to Haaretz that the final proposal from Washington will require a reduced military presence from Israel in the nine-mile demilitarized zone during the first six weeks of the armistice period; culminating in a complete force extraction in week seven.
In the live media event on Monday night, Netanyahu insisted that any removal from the strategic boundary would result in Hamas using the area to resupply its fighters and possibly transfer hostages to Egypt.
“We will not go out. The importance of the Philadelphi Corridor is cardinal— to bring out the hostages, to ensure that Hamas is destroyed, and that Gaza will not again be a threat to us,” he told reporters.
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