CNN
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Israel will not withdraw its forces from the Gaza-Egypt border as would be required under the second phase of a truce with Hamas, an Israeli source says, even as it dispatches a team for ceasefire negotiations.
“We will not exit the Philadelphi Corridor,” the source told CNN, referring to the 14-kilometer (8-mile) strip along the border. “We will not allow Hamas murderers to roam again with trucks and rifles on our borders, and we will not let them strengthen themselves again through smuggling.”
The announcement comes days before the first phase of the Israel-Hamas hostage-ceasefire agreement is set to expire, and just hours after Hamas handed over the final hostages due for release under the first phase.
Hamas said in a statement that Israel’s failure to withdraw from the Gaza-Egypt border would be “a clear violation of the ceasefire agreement, and an attempt to fabricate excuses to obstruct the ceasefire agreement and casuing it to fail.”
Talks on extending a 42-day ceasefire between Israel and Hamas into a second phase were meant to have started more than three weeks ago.
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office said Thursday that Benjamin Netanyahu was sending a “negotiating delegation to Cairo today to continue the talks.”
It is unclear whether that team will discuss phase two of a ceasefire, which is supposed to include the full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, or just an extension of the first phase.
In a sign that talks will not take place at the highest level, the head of Israel’s negotiating team, Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, will not be traveling to Cairo for the negotiations, the Israeli prime minister’s spokesperson, Omer Dostri, told CNN.
The first phase – which has seen the release of 38 hostages held by Hamas and thousands of Palestinian prisoners and detainees held by Israel – expires on Saturday.
Netanyahu would prefer to simply extend the ceasefire’s first phase and secure the release of more hostages without having to withdraw from Gaza, an Israeli source familiar with the matter told CNN Tuesday, saying that the government is trying to prolong the first phase “by as much as possible” in the hope of achieving that.
The politician Benny Gantz, a former military chief who quit the unity government last year, accused Netanyahu of acting out of narrow “political interest.”
“The interest of the State of Israel is to bring back as many hostages as quickly as possible,” he said while visiting northern Israel. “One difficult exchange, not drips and drabs.”
Hamas official Mahmoud Mardawi told CNN that the withdrawal from the Philadelphi Corridor was supposed to begin on Saturday, day 42 of the ceasefire, and end on March 9, the 50th day.
The Israeli military took control of the corridor adjacent to the Egyptian border in May. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has insisted that controlling the border is critical to Israel’s security.
The second phase of the ceasefire would require Israel to withdraw all its forces from Gaza – including from the Egyptian border. Hamas would then be required to release all living hostages in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners.
After handing over the final four deceased hostages due for release overnight into Thursday, Hamas reaffirmed its commitment to start talks on a second phase.
“Any attempts by Netanyahu and his government to backtrack on the agreement and obstruct it will only lead to more suffering for the prisoners and their families,” Hamas said, referring to the hostages.
CNN is asking Egypt, one of the mediators in the truce negotiations, for comment.
Kareem Khadder contributed to this report.