Nearly half of Israelis prefer ceding control of Philadelphi corridor for deal: Poll

A new poll released by Israel's Maariv newspaper finds that around 48 percent of Israelis prefer ceding control of the Philadelphi corridor between Gaza and Egypt in order to secured a captive and ceasefire deal.

On the other hand, 37 percent prefer keeping control of the narrow corridor, even if it means not having a deal.

The results are closer when only Jewish respondents are considered, where 44 percent are in favour of ceding control against 42 percent who would prefer keeping Israeli control over the corridor.

This shows wide rejection of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's insistence of maintaining Israeli control of the narrow strip of land between Gaza and Egypt, a move many have said is jeopardising chances to reach a ceasefire deal.

Despite this, the poll finds that Netanyahu remains one of the most political Israeli politicians, outperforming all his rivals in head-to-head match-ups except for Naftali Bennett, who earned 49 percent of the votes to Netanyahu's 34.