Israeli media reported on Thursday that the Israeli army will not withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor on the Egypt-Gaza border, as agreed in the ceasefire deal.
“We will not leave the Philadelphi Corridor. We will not allow the Hamas murderers to again roam our borders with pickup trucks and guns, and we will not allow them to rearm through smuggling,” the Times of Israel cited an Israeli official as saying.
A refusal to withdraw could endanger the fragile ceasefire agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist organization Hamas, which has been in place since January 19, and the return of the 59 Israeli hostages still held in the Gaza Strip.
According to the ceasefire deal, Israeli forces are to gradually withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor over a period of about a week, beginning this weekend.
The first phase of the ceasefire deal is set to end this weekend, but the pause in fighting is to continue while negotiations on a second phase are ongoing. However, reports say the negotiations on a second phase have not properly begun.
The second phase of the ceasefire is intended to definitely end the Gaza war, with Hamas releasing any remaining hostages and the Israeli army completing its withdrawal from Gaza.
In January, Israeli officials emphasized that the army would not leave the coastal strip until all hostages were back home.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is also under pressure from his far-right coalition partners, who are calling for the war to continue until Hamas is completely destroyed.
