Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, said on Monday that Israel would not abandon the Philadelphi Corridor. The U.S. announced on Tuesday that it would.
The White House announced that Israel supports its new ceasefire plan, which includes a withdrawal from densely populated areas along the Philadelphi Corridor.
In a press briefing, White House National Security Council spokeswoman John Kirby said that the deal included the bridging plan that we began working on. It also includes the removal by the Israel Defense Forces of all densely-populated areas…in phase one…and that includes areas along and adjacent to the corridor. “That was the proposal Israel had accepted.”
The fine print is, of course from “parts of” the Philadelphi Corridor.
The White House spokesperson confirmed that Jerusalem has publicly stated that “some security would be needed along that corridor.”
The whole situation feels a lot like the one in May when Biden announced ‘Israel’s’ new plan on Shabbat when Israeli officials were unable to respond. It sounded a lot like surrender. Netanyahu shot down all speculations that he’d agree to a deal that would remove the IDF completely from Gaza, as Biden had made it sound. Israel kept most of the deal, even though it was terrible for them. Hamas, however, rejected it.
Here we are, again, with the Biden administration announcing yet another “miracle deal” on behalf of Israel, which will conveniently satisfy the demands from the extreme left. The news that the Biden administration is announcing on behalf of Israel, which conveniently will satisfy the demands of the far left, is a bit odd.
“… Netanyahu stated that Israel’s goals in war are to “destroy Hamas, bring back all our hostages, ensure that Gaza won’t present a threat for Israel and safely return residents of the Northern Border” and that “three out of these war goals pass through one place, the Philadelphi Corridor.” Hamas uses that corridor to re-arm and get oxygen.
After the deaths of six hostages including Hersh Goldberg-Polin, an American, there has been a huge increase in pressure on Netanyahu. As the IDF forces approached their location, Hamas terrorists killed them to prevent a rescue.
Biden then made an offensive comment, claiming that Netanyahu wasn’t doing enough. The UK then announced that it would suspend 30 of its licenses for Israel. Israel’s friends betray it again, as if by clockwork.
Israel is the only nation that has suffered this injustice, even though they are fighting for their safety and survival. Biden’s back-and-forth foreign policy has created confusion, outrage, and controversy. He wants to give a helping hand to Israel and also to Hamas supporters on the far left. It doesn’t happen that way.
Netanyahu has been accused of abandoning hostages but he is quite stoic since October 7th. Hamas was emboldened when Biden began to falter and change his mind. We will never be able to know how many hostages would have been released and how quickly this war might have ended if we had remained steadfast and united.
