Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday that the Philadelphi Corridor on the border between Gaza and Egypt will remain as a “buffer zone just like [Israel’s borders with] Lebanon and Syria,” Anadolu has reported. His comments were carried by Israeli Channel 12.
Israel is scheduled to start withdrawing from the 14-kilometre (8.69 miles) corridor on Saturday under the Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement with Hamas. An Israeli official, however, confirmed on Thursday that Tel Aviv will not withdraw from the corridor as scheduled.
“We will not leave the Philadelphi Corridor,” the public broadcaster KAN quoted the official as saying. He said that Israel will not allow Hamas “to again roam our borders with pickup trucks and guns, and we will not allow them to rearm through smuggling.”
The Israeli army captured the corridor during its destructive war on Gaza, which has killed more than 48,300 people, mostly women and children, and left the enclave in ruins.
There was no immediate comment from Hamas on the Israeli claim.
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