What are the Philadelphi, Netzarim corridors Israel wants full control of?

Just when a permanent ceasefire in Gaza appeared to be within reach, Israel moved the goalposts yet again by presenting a new set of “conditions”—a move that analysts say is aimed at sabotaging any prospects of ending the 10-month war, which has killed more than 40,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

Crucial talks in Cairo to end the 10-month war failed to throw up any concrete results after Hamas accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of sabotaging the negotiations by putting unrealistic conditions.

Israel is now demanding that two strategic strips of land in war-ravaged Gaza be put under its control permanently as part of the ceasefire deal.

Tel Aviv insists that it must maintain a military presence in a narrow buffer zone—called the Philadelphi corridor—along Gaza's border with Egypt (see map below).

In addition, it wants to maintain permanent control of the Netzarim corridor, a sliver of land that cuts off northern Gaza from the south. Hamas says Israeli occupation of the corridor will restrict the free movement of Palestinians from southern Gaza to the north.

The idea of Israel controlling any piece of land within Gaza is unacceptable to Hamas.

Dr Sami Al-Arian, director of the Center for Islam and Global Affairs (CIGA) at Istanbul Zaim University, tells TRT World that Israel is trying to take control of Gaza without actually occupying every part of it.

“To do that, it needs to control the borders… controlling the Philadelphi corridor means they actually control all of Gaza, sea and the land,” he says.

The Philadelphi corridor is a narrow strip of land about 100 yards wide in parts. The 14-kilometre-long corridor runs along the Gaza side of its border with Egypt. It also includes the Rafah Crossing, which is the only transit point between Egypt and Gaza.

As for the Netzarim corridor, Al-Arian says Israeli presence along the six-kilometre-long strip stretching from the Israeli border to the coast south of Gaza City will effectively let Tel Aviv “control life in Gaza”.

Israel wants to ensure that no reconstruction effort takes place without its “dictation”, Al-Arian says.

“The ultimate goal of Israel is to make sure that Palestinians will not go back and rebuild Gaza. But it doesn’t want to occupy Gaza because that’ll mean everything there would become its responsibility,” he adds.

Another attempt to thwart ceasefire?

Israel has repeatedly sabotaged every attempt by the UN and global power brokers over the last 300-plus days to stop its killing spree, which has taken the lives of nearly two percent of Gaza’s total population and injured almost 93,000 people.

The surprise inclusion of new conditions by Israel—which Netanyahu insists are mere clarifications to an earlier peace proposal endorsed by President Joe Biden in a May 31 speech—has nearly derailed the latest round of ceasefire talks in Cairo.

“Israel will not, under any circumstances, leave the Philadelphi corridor and the Netzarim axis despite the enormous pressure it is under to do so,” Israeli media quoted Netanyahu as saying on Tuesday.

According to Palestinian analyst Ramzy Baroud, Netanyahu doesn’t want a permanent ceasefire, which the US, Qatar and Egypt have been trying to broker between Israel and Hamas for months.

“The Israeli military has been thrashed in Gaza. Its reputation is at an all-time low. The resistance in Gaza is obviously prepared for a long-term war of attrition,” Baroud tells TRT World.

The Israeli premier does not want a permanent ceasefire in Gaza because that will be interpreted as an “utter defeat” for Israel “under his watch”, he adds.

That is the reason, he says, Netanyahu has presented new ceasefire conditions just when US Secretary of State Antony Blinken thought the peace process was entering a decisive moment.

Agreeing to the ceasefire would make Netanyahu the leader who failed to reclaim and restore deterrence against the Palestinians in Gaza after Hamas’s October 7 incursion, he says.

Neither the May 31 speech by President Biden nor the subsequent US Security Council resolution of June 11—two documents that make the basis for the ongoing diplomatic push for peace—made any reference to the Israeli demand for a military presence in Gaza through the two strategic corridors.

However, both documents called for a “complete withdrawal” of Israeli forces from Gaza.

“It’s a nightmare scenario for Netanyahu. So he’s doing everything in his power to prevent it,” says Baroud.

The ongoing ceasefire negotiations are doomed to fail unless Israel takes back its demand because Hamas will not give “even an inch of Gaza” to Israel.

“Palestinians will allow Israel to remain in Gaza under no circumstance. That’s just impossible,” he says.