Cease-fire negotiations between Israel and Hamas took a tentatively hopeful step forward as Egypt passed a new proposal to the terrorist group following "constructive" talks in Cairo this week, according to reports.

"The Philadelphi Corridor ... is the lifeline of Hamas … they smuggled in machinery [to Gaza to make weaponry]," IDF MG (ret.) Yaakov Amidror said during a Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA) situational update.

"Israel cannot allow this to happen again," Amidror, who also serves as a JINSA Distinguished Fellow, said. "This is imperative … what [is being discussed] is how to square the circle … if a solution can be found … we might have an agreement. I’m not sure Hamas will be ready [to accept this]."

The main points of contention between the two parties remain the handling of the corridors and crossings – Rafah, Netzarim and Philadelphi – as Israel maintains that control of these passages plays a crucial part of Israeli security.

"What the IDF [wants], and what the Prime Minister wants, is to [use Netzarim] to monitor the movement of Palestinians to the north [of Gaza] with checkpoints [and prevent terrorists from moving to northern Gaza]," Amidror explained.

This, in turn, has raised Palestinian concerns about the ongoing military presence of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF). The Hamas negotiators have also pushed for prisoner releases as part of the deal to release Hamas terrorists, sources familiar with the talks told Reuters.

Vice President Kamala Harris in her DNC acceptance speech reiterated her support for both Israel and the Palestinian people. She insisted that she and President Biden are working to end the war and ensure that Israel is secure and "the suffering in Gaza ends and the Palestinian people can realize their right to dignity, security, freedom and self-determination."

Egypt as well as Hamas want Israel to withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor, where Israeli troops advanced in May. Israel says Hamas has used the area to bring arms into Gaza. Egypt claims it has shut off smuggling routes.

"There is a military principle, which is still valid until today: if you have an obstacle, and no one controls it, it's like you don't have an obstacle," Amidror argued. "It doesn't matter if it's above ground or under the ground."

"That's why an Israeli presence [along the Philadelphi Corridor] ... has to be there [in] the day after ... [and should be a] physical and technological presence," he added.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken had attended talks this week, along with CIA chief William Burns, who has led the U.S. team in the negotiations as mediator between the warring sides. However, Blinken failed to achieve a breakthrough and ultimately departed before crunch talks that started Thursday.

The White House denied reports that the hostage-truce talks had collapsed, insisting that they continued to make progress and that "both sides need to come together and work toward implementation," National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters. Hamas also earlier this week denied that negotiators had backed away from the talks.

Those talks have reportedly yielded a major development, leading negotiators to close gaps over the Rafah crossing and a proposed arrangement for the Philadelphi Corridor, The Times of Israel reported.

The Israeli outlet cited Army Radio, which reported that Cairo had refused to pass along Blinken’s U.S. bridging offer until after Thursday’s discussions yielded additional concessions that could finally push towards an agreement.

Army Radio reportedly added that negotiators are trying to bring Hamas representatives more directly into discussions, which will continue on Sunday.

Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant spoke overnight Thursday with his American counterpart U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin to discuss joint preparation and interoperability of their forces in the face of ongoing potential threat from Iran and Hezbollah.

Gallant reiterated Israel’s defeat of the Hamas Rafah brigade, which newly-ascended Hamas Chief Yahya Sinwar argued would prove hugely problematic for the IDF, as well as the destruction of over 150 tunnels in the area.

Gallant emphasized the importance of the ongoing operation to dismantle Hamas infrastructure, including the tunnels he claims continue to crisscross the Gaza territory, according to a readout of the meeting.

Despite these military successes, Gallant stressed his commitment to seeing an agreement between Israel and Hamas that would lead to the release of hostages, and he thanked Austin for his commitment to Israel’s security and the ongoing U.S. support since the Oct. 7 attack.

AfriPrime App link:  FREE to download...

https://www.amazon.com/Africircle-AfriPrime/dp/B0D2M3F2JT

Israel offers new proposal for the Philadelphi corridor to Hamas

Egypt is set to deliver Israel’s latest Philadelphi corridor proposal to Hamas after Israel submitted a revised plan on Thursday as efforts to secure a ceasefire deal to halt the fighting in Gaza continue, a diplomat and an Israeli source familiar with the talks said.

The new Israeli proposal, which includes a map of where Israeli troops would be deployed, reduces the number of troops and military posts along the strategic corridor bordering Egypt from Israel’s previous position, the Israeli source said. Egyptian negotiators had rejected the previous Israeli map days earlier and declined to transfer it to Hamas, calling it a non-starter.

The Philadelphi corridor is a 14-kilometer (8.7-mile) strip of land in southern Gaza along the border with Egypt- that the IDF currently controls.

The deployment of Israeli troops along the Philadelphi corridor during the first phase of a ceasefire agreement has been a major point of contention between Israel and Hamas. Israel has demanded maintaining control of the border zone, whereas Hamas has said Israeli troops must withdraw from the area.

Hamas’ response to the new proposal will be critical to determining whether it sends negotiators to an expected negotiating summit in Cairo on Sunday. If they attend, the two sides could hold true negotiations – with each side’s delegation occupying a room, and Egyptian and Qatari mediators going back-and-forth between the two.

The new proposal was the product of an hours-long meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his negotiating team on Thursday, in which Netanyahu agreed to reduce troop levels. That meeting came a day after Netanyahu spoke with US President Joe Biden, who pushed Netanyahu to show more flexibility on the Philadelphi corridor.

AfriPrime App link:  FREE to download...

https://www.amazon.com/Africircle-AfriPrime/dp/B0D2M3F2JT

A Small Gaza Corridor Turns Into New Israel-Hamas Sticking Point

In recent days, the presence of Israeli troops along a narrow corridor in southern Gaza has become one of the most serious issues dividing Hamas and Israel as their cease-fire talks drag on.

The question of whether Israel can keep its forces in the so-called Philadelphi corridor, which runs along the Egypt-Gaza border, is vexing mediators. It is key to the negotiations, which are meant to restart in Cairo on Sunday, and also the cause of the latest rift between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the White House.

Netanyahu says Israel’s soldiers must keep control of the corridor, including the Rafah border crossing, to prevent weapons smuggling from Egypt into Gaza. That’s crucial, he argues, to stop Hamas — designated a terrorist organization by the US and European Union — rearming and carrying out another Oct. 7-style attack on Israel.

The Rafah crossing is the only one Gaza has with a country aside from Israel. It was operated by Hamas and Egypt until the Israeli military captured it in May, since when it’s been shut. Israel’s complained about smuggling from Egypt for years.

Netanyahu now regularly refers to the Philadelphi corridor in public. His office was quick to deny local reports this week that he’s considering allowing a multi-national force to replace Israeli troops there.

The US was rankled by reports in local media that he claimed to have convinced US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, when they met on Monday in Jerusalem, to accept Israeli forces staying in the corridor. Netanyahu’s office didn’t deny the reports.

A senior State Department official said Blinken had not agreed to that and added such “maximalist” statements hinder the negotiations with Hamas.

Netanyahu’s government says its stance is fully in line with US President Joe Biden’s proposal from May, which forms the basis for the talks. Hamas disagrees and says Israel is making new demands. Egypt, too, is against Israeli troops controlling the border crossing and the corridor.

Biden’s plan, dubbed a “bridging” agreement before the final details are hashed out, calls for Israel to remove forces from populated areas in the first phase of a cease-fire. Israel says its smuggling concerns have deepened because it’s discovered dozens of tunnels since taking over the corridor, which contains scrubland and parts of the city of Rafah.

Netanyahu’s position faces criticism within Israel. Some opponents accuse him of trying to prolong the war to appease the far-right members of his cabinet and stall any push for early elections.

Gadi Eisenkot, a former head of the Israeli military and a member of the war cabinet until he quit in June, says Israel can seal the Egypt-Gaza border even if it gives up control of the Philadelphi corridor. It can do that, he says, by working more closely with Cairo and building an underground barrier like those that exist between the Gaza-Israel borders.

“The taking over of the Philadelphi corridor was not a goal of the war, but a means to achieve war goals that include the release of hostages,” said Eisenkot. “It should not turn from a means to an end.”

The corridor is far from the only sticking point. Israel and Hamas are yet to agree how many hostages will be released from Gaza in the first phase of a deal, as well as how many Palestinians will be freed from Israeli jails.

Netanyahu also says Israel will keep forces along a second corridor called Netzarim, which bisects Gaza, to block Hamas fighters moving back into northern parts of the territory.

In addition, Hamas wants any truce to end the war, while Israel says it must retain the right to restart fighting and achieve its aim of destroying Hamas.

Blinken took to calling it an “enduring cease-fire” this week, indicating the US thinks the phrase could satisfy both sides.

Even if he’s right, he will have to overcome the dispute over the Philadelphi corridor.

“All parties are very frustrated,” Merissa Khurma, director of the Middle East program at the Wilson Center, said of the issue. “The only way forward I see is to continue this intense diplomacy. I’m not too optimistic.”

AfriPrime App link:  FREE to download...

https://www.amazon.com/Africircle-AfriPrime/dp/B0D2M3F2JT