The Chief of Staff of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Lieutenant General Herzi Halevi, assured this Wednesday that his troops will know how to carry out a policy of incursions and attacks on the Gaza border with Egypt, the nicknamed Philadelphia Corridor. , if they are forced to abandon this strip under a truce agreement with Hamas.
«If they decide that we stay in Philadelphia, we will know how to stay there and stay strong. "If they decide that we should monitor [the area] and carry out raids whenever we have an indication, we will know how to do it."Halevi added during an on-the-ground assessment in the southern Gaza Strip.
His words come after in July, at a meeting of negotiating members in Rome, the Israeli delegation included two new requests - according to them, clarifications - in the truce draft: the presence of troops in the Philadelphia corridor and at the Rafah crossing to prevent weapons smuggling to Hamas and the creation of a mechanism to prevent armed Palestinian terrorists from accessing northern Gaza.
Since the beginning of the negotiations, one of Hamas's unwavering demands for a truce in Gaza has been both a definitive end to the war and "the total and definitive withdrawal" of Israeli troops from Gaza.
Furthermore, Halevi added that the "next step is the return of the hostages", of which Israel estimates that there are still 111 captives in Gaza, including at least 39 confirmed dead.
«(Returning them) is the objective of the war. "We are working on it with great determination and I want you to know that what you are doing on the ground and underground has a significant impact on it," the soldier told the soldiers. "Hamas must know that each day it holds our hostages will be more bitter than the last."
Agencies contributed to this Aurora article.