US confirms Israel's call to stay in Philadelphi corridor was a new demand in ceasefire talks

Israel’s demand to keep troops along the Philadelphi corridor was a new position in ceasefire talks that Israel had not included in a proposal to Hamas in May, a senior US official confirmed.

The fate of who control’s the corridor as emerged as one of the main blockages to a ceasefire, the senior official said.

“A dispute emerged whether the Philadelphia Corridor, which is effectively a road on the border of Gaza and Egypt, is a densely populated area,” the senior US official said.

The US said Israel agreed to withdraw from populated areas of Gaza during phase one of the three-phase ceasefire deal, making the description of the area key. 

In its latest proposal, Israel agreed to withdraw some troops, which the US official said “is technically consistent with the deal,” but Hamas is insisting on the original May proposal, the US official said. 

“It’s become a bit of a political debate in Israel,” the official added.

The official also said the killing of six hostages in Gaza has “called into question Hamas’s readiness to do a deal of any kind,” adding that the talks were “pretty frustrating”.

Hamas and Israel are also at odds on what Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails would be freed as part of an exchange.

“Until that is worked out, you’re not going to have a deal”.