Senior Israeli officials and families of prisoners held in Gaza accuse Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of obstructing a swap deal and of placing obstacles to prevent any agreement.
On Monday, thousands of Israelis took to the streets in mass demonstrations in Tel Aviv, occupied Jerusalem and other areas to pressure the government and demand an agreement to return prisoners held in Gaza.
Despite these demonstrations, Netanyahu remained steadfast in his position, and insisted on the occupation army remaining in the Philadelphi corridor, which he describes as an “oxygen tube for the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas),” and he affirms that “achieving the goals of the war passes through this corridor.”
The Egyptian Foreign Ministry responded to Netanyahu’s allegations, saying in a statement, “Egypt rejects the Israeli Prime Minister’s statements in which he tried to use Egypt’s name to distract Israeli public opinion and obstruct reaching a ceasefire and hostage exchange deal.”
The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) adheres to its firm position, which is to end the Israeli war on Gaza, return all displaced persons to their areas, and the Israeli withdrawal from the entire Strip, especially the Philadelphi and Netzarim axes.
There were many comments on Netanyahu’s adherence to the Philadelphi axis, including comments by Israelis, some of which were monitored in the episode (9/3/2024) of the “Networks” program.
Ronit Pasternak’s account stated, “Netanyahu’s end is near, and his speech yesterday was full of political stuttering, and it may be his last speech. He opened the gates of hell and hostility with Egypt, because of his blatant lie about the Philadelphi Corridor.”
Nikon Tverskoy wrote: “Even the Minister of Defense confirmed that it is possible to withdraw from the Philadelphi corridor, but Netanyahu continues this foolishness alone, and sees this corridor as the salvation of the Jewish people.”
Arabic comments
As for the Arabs’ comments, Tariq al-Hashemi wrote, “The criminal fascist Netanyahu expresses his indifference to the fate of the prisoners… from the beginning he chose military force, not the negotiating table, which is the only way to free the prisoners safely.”
Majed Abu Diak said, “Netanyahu appeared tense and angry in his press conference, and this is an expression of the failure to achieve the term complete victory. He lost his balance to the point that he refuses to believe that Biden accused him of not doing enough to conclude a prisoner exchange agreement!”
In the same context, Aboud tweeted, “Hamas or any other party cannot bring a kilo of potatoes from Sinai into Gaza without Egyptian security noticing. Netanyahu’s claims that the Philadelphia Corridor is the oxygen of life for Hamas is empty talk.”
It is noteworthy that the Israeli media, led by the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, linked Netanyahu’s confirmation of remaining in the Philadelphi corridor to what was rumored about the United States’ intention to present a new proposal “uncomfortable to Netanyahu” regarding a prisoner exchange deal and a ceasefire in Gaza.
NBC quoted a senior US official as saying that President Joe Biden and his team discussed presenting a “final offer” to stop the war in Gaza through mediators in Egypt and Qatar. It confirmed that it would be delivered to Hamas and Israel during the current week.