US official: We can account for Israel's security if it leaves Philadelphi

A senior US official told reporters on Wednesday that "there are things the United States can do [to] fully account for Israel's security needs" should the IDF withdraw from the Philadelphi corridor as part of a hostage release deal.

The official expressed in the virtual call Washington's confidence in the "security arrangements around the corridor," which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists must remain under Israeli control.

"Some Israeli ministers say this deal would sacrifice Israel's security. That is just fundamentally untrue. I'd argue not getting into this deal is more of a threat to Israel's long-term security. And that includes the Philadelphi corridor," the official said, as quoted by Haaretz.

The official clarified that the first phase of the deal "does not call for full withdrawal of Israeli forces and never had been. Just from densely populated civilian areas. Nothing mentions the Philadelphi corridor, and a dispute emerged on whether the Philadelphi corridor counts as a densely populated area."

The official also discussed the negotiations between Israel and Hamas on a ceasefire and hostage release deal, stating that "90 percent of this deal has been agreed, even on Hamas terms."

The second part of the deal is "quite complicated," the official explained, involving "hundreds of Palestinian prisoners coming out … including significant ones, for the hostages."

From Hamas' perspective, the official described the process as "pretty frustrating. There was some progress on this last week, but Hamas has to engage, otherwise we can't move forward. Before this weekend, Egypt and Qatar and the United States had been working on prisoner exchange and putting together a nuts-and-bolts package, but the weekend's events changed the character of the conversation. A deal is perhaps the only viable option for saving the hostages. We're still committed to doing all we can to try and get it done but won't make predictions."

The official’s comments came after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held an English-language press conference on Wednesday evening, in which he stressed the need for Israel to maintain control of the Philadelphi corridor.

"Gaza cannot have a future if Gaza remains porous and you can enable the rearmament of terrorists through the Philadelphi Corridor," he said.

Netanyahu stated that the retention of control of the Philadelphi Corridor was also necessary to secure the release of the remaining hostages. "If you leave this corridor, you can't prevent Hamas from not only smuggling weapons in, you can't prevent them from smuggling hostages out. It's walking distance. It's nothing."

He said that if this happened the hostages would "disappear in the Sinai, and then they end up in Iran or in Yemen. They're gone forever."

Netanyahu added that military pressure is necessary to get Hamas to release the hostages. "So if you want to release the hostages, you've got to control the Philadelphi Corridor."

"It's clear Gaza must be demilitarized. And it can only be demilitarized if the Philadelphi Corridor remains under firm control and is not a supply line for armaments and for terror equipment. I think that's clear to all Israelis," he said.

The United States has been pushing an outline for a ceasefire and hostage release deal that President Joe Biden first laid out in May, but Hamas has continuously rejected every proposal that has been presented to it.

Despite this, Biden has said he is optimistic that a deal can be reached.