Israel refuses Gaza pullout, putting ceasefire deal at risk

Photo : AFP

Israel has said that its army will not leave the Philadelphi Corridor, a small but important strip of land on Gaza’s border with Egypt. This goes against the ceasefire deal with Hamas, which says Israel must move out of this area.

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An Israeli official told the Associated Press on Thursday that the army must stay there to stop Hamas from bringing in weapons. According to the ceasefire deal, Israel was supposed to start leaving this Saturday and finish in eight days. But now, it says it will stay.

Hamas and Egypt have not yet answered Israel’s statement. But on Thursday, Hamas said that the only way Israel can get back the remaining hostages is by following the ceasefire deal and talking. Egypt has also asked Israel to remove its soldiers from the corridor.

This news came just a few hours after Hamas gave back the remains of four hostages in exchange for more than 600 Palestinian prisoners. This was the last swap planned in the first part of the six-week ceasefire.

This is happening at the same time that U.S. President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, is getting ready to visit the area. He wants Israel and Hamas to start talking about the next part of the ceasefire, which was supposed to start in early February.

The Philadelphi Corridor is a key area in this conflict. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel must stay there to stop Hamas from smuggling weapons. Israel controlled this area before but left in 2005 when it pulled its soldiers and settlers out of Gaza. However, in May last year, Israel launched an attack on southern Gaza and took back control of the corridor from Hamas.

Even after Israel left in 2005, tunnels under the ground were still in use. Israel says Hamas uses these tunnels to secretly bring in weapons. On the other hand, Egypt says it has destroyed tunnels on its side of the border and made buffer zones to stop smuggling.

The Rafah crossing, which is the only way in and out of Gaza that Israel does not control, has been very important. Egypt has made it hard for people to cross, but it has still allowed some trade and let people with special permission leave and come back. Before Israel’s attack, this crossing was also used to send food and other needed items into Gaza. But now, with Israel controlling more land, less aid is getting through,