Israeli Energy Minister Eli Cohen stated that Israel would only withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor under specific conditions, putting the truce at risk.
Israel will not withdraw from a key corridor in the Gaza Strip as required by the ceasefire agreement, Israeli energy minister Eli Cohen announced on Thursday, raising concerns of a breakdown of the already very fragile ceasefire agreement.
Cohen defended Israel’s insistence on remaining in the Philadelphi Corridor, also known as the Salah al-Din Corridor, which runs along the Gaza-Egypt border, calling it a “security necessity.”
He stated that Israeli forces would not withdraw until three key objectives were met: the full return of captives, the removal of Hamas from power, and the complete disarmament of Gaza.
An unnamed Israeli official also said Israeli forces view their presence in the area as essential to preventing weapons smuggling, the Associated Press reported.
This could further escalate tensions, as Israel was expected to begin withdrawing from the Philadelphi Corridor on Saturday, the final day of the ceasefire’s first phase, and complete the pullout within eight days.
Last July during Israel-Hamas truce negotiations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu introduced new conditions to the deal aimed at maintaining Israel’s presence in the corridor, which ultimately derailed the talks, The Times of Israel reported.
However, the deal Israel accepted six months later still requires it to begin withdrawing from the Philadelphi Corridor on the 42nd day of phase one and to complete the pullout by the 50th day of the ceasefire, set for 9 March.
The corridor, a demilitarised border zone since Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, runs from the Mediterranean to the Kerem Shalom (Karim Abu Salem) crossing with Israel.
Before 2005, Israel’s 1979 Camp David peace treaty with Egypt permitted it to station a limited number of troops there but no heavy armour.
After Israel’s withdrawal, Egypt and the Palestinian Authority (PA) took responsibility for security, with Egyptian forces deployed to prevent smuggling until Hamas took control of Gaza in 2007.
Israel seized the corridor in May last year during its ground offensive in Rafah.
Egypt continues to oppose an expanded Israeli military presence on the border, warning that such a move could threaten peace.
Such concerns are intensified by the possibility that the already fragile truce could be destabilised, as both Israel and Hamas have repeatedly accused each other of ceasefire violations since the agreement took effect on 19 January.
The latest developments come after Hamas handed over the remains of four captives in exchange for over 600 Palestinian prisoners in the final planned exchange of the ceasefire’s first phase.
Second phase of truce
Negotiations for the second phase were set to begin in early February but have yet to start, prompting US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, to urge both sides to move forward with talks.
On Thursday, Hamas insisted that Israel had “no choice but to start negotiations” on a second phase after the group returned the bodies of four Israelis taken hostage on 7 October 2023.
The group stated it had “synchronised” the process of handing over the remains with the release of Palestinian prisoners.
The Hostages and Missing Families Forum confirmed that the bodies recovered were those of Ohad Yahalomi, Itzhak Elgarat, Shlomo Mantzur, and Tsachi Idan.
Hamas reported that over 600 captives had been released overnight, most of whom were detainees taken to Gaza after 7 October and held without charge.
Under the six-week ceasefire’s first phase, which expires this weekend, Hamas has returned 33 hostages, including eight bodies, in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinians.
The ceasefire, brokered by the United States, Egypt, and Qatar, temporarily halted 15 months of war that have killed over 48,000 Palestinians, displaced nearly 90 percent of Gaza’s population, and devastated the territory’s infrastructure and healthcare system.
Despite the ceasefire, sporadic Israeli violence continues in Gaza.
The Israeli military reported conducting airstrikes on several launch sites on Wednesday after a projectile reportedly was fired from the territory. However, the munition reportedly fell short and landed inside Gaza.
