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Claim Israel ‘Can Always Return’ to Philadelphi Corridor Baseless
Some rises after an Israeli strike as Israeli forces launch a ground and air operation in the eastern part of Rafah, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, May 7, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Hatem Khaled
JNS.org – In recent days it has emerged that the Israel Defense Forces has to date uncovered and blocked off 150 smuggling tunnels under the Philadelphi Corridor sector of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, and the question of who will control this critical area has become a central sticking point during hostage negotiations with Hamas in Cairo.
The scope of the uncovered tunnel network marks a significant counter-terrorism success, yet simultaneously illustrates why Israel should be cautious about withdrawing from this strategic corridor, observers in Israel have told JNS.
According to Brig. Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser, former head of the Research and Assessment Division of Israel’s Military Intelligence and a senior research fellow at Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy, if Israel were to withdraw, there would be a resurgence of arms smuggling from Egypt into Gaza.
“The reality of so many tunnels under the corridor makes it clear that what will happen is a renewal of the smuggling of arms from Egypt to Gaza,” stated Kuperwasser, who is also a senior research fellow at the Jerusalem Center for Foreign Affairs. “Why does Hamas so insist on this corridor, if nothing is supposed to happen?”
Kuperwasser also pointed out that relying on Egypt to prevent these smuggling activities has proven to be an unrealistic hope.
“It’s obvious that Israel can’t rely on the Egyptians. They promised and supposedly acted to prevent these smuggling activities, but in practice, you see the vast amounts of weapons Hamas has. Why should this change?”
Kuperwasser argued that the Egyptian interest remains the same—to avoid being perceived as fighting “Palestinian resistance.”
“They can’t afford to genuinely combat this smuggling,” he said. He further noted that as long as Palestinian smuggling activities continue, Israel remains dependent on Egypt, and this dependency can be exploited by Cairo.
“As long as the Palestinians attack Israel, Israel needs the Egyptians more,” he observed. “There is also apparently the aspect of sorts of people who made money from this activity,” Kuperwasser added. “A lot of money is involved.”
Kuperwasser also warned against the notion that foreign or Palestinian forces could effectively prevent future smuggling operations.
“We have already tried all these tricks; they never worked,” he stated, emphasizing that the flow of weapons into Gaza would resume if Israel withdraws from the Philadelphi Corridor. “There will be no clause in a future agreement in which Hamas commits itself not to smuggle weapons from Egypt. We, on the other hand, will be prevented from entering as an explicit clause in the agreement,” he added.
Kuperwasser stressed that an Israeli return to the corridor after a withdrawal would be nearly impossible due to political pressures.
“There will always be political conditions that will prevent us from returning. Israel may want to return, but won’t be able to. There will be American pressure. The Egyptians will say absolutely not. The Iranians will threaten to attack if we do,” he said.
As a result, Kuperwasser said, the Israeli military presence along the Philadelphi Corridor is essential to ensure that Hamas and other terror organizations in Gaza are not able to rebuild their massive terror infrastructure in Gaza.
He emphasized the need for Israel to establish an underground counter-tunnel barrier similar to the one built along the Israel-Gaza border and to maintain a military presence in the area to ensure its effectiveness.
Professor Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at the Tel Aviv-based Institute for National Security Studies and the Misgav Institute for National Security and Zionist Strategy, highlighted that control over the corridor is synonymous with control over the Rafah Border Crossing between Gaza and Egypt.
“The Rafah Crossing has served as the main platform for smuggling weapons into Gaza, all with Egypt turning a blind eye,” he stated.
Abandoning the corridor and crossing before establishing monitoring and control mechanisms transparent to Israel means losing control over the corridor and crossing in the future,” he warned.
This control could be established, Michael argued, by creating a military presence at Rafah Crossing, or through building a meticulous sensor and surveillance system that is accessible to Israel and enables it operational freedom of movement.
Michael, too, dismissed as baseless the notion, often repeated by Israeli defense officials, that Israel could easily return to the corridor if needed. Drawing on past experiences after Israel’s disengagement from Gaza in 2005, he said, “We couldn’t do it after the disengagement from Gaza in 2005, and we won’t be able to do it—or at least, it will be very difficult—after withdrawing from there,” he noted.
“Israel would face extensive international and American pressure, as well as Egyptian pressure, including threats to cancel the peace agreement.”
Michael emphasized the need for Israel to reach an understanding with the United States and Egypt regarding direct Israeli control over the Philadelphi Corridor and Rafah Crossing until a barrier similar to the one along the Gaza border is completed, and until the Rafah Crossing is operated by a Palestinian element that is “not Hamas” and is under “international supervision that is fully transparent to Israel.”
The post Claim Israel ‘Can Always Return’ to Philadelphi Corridor Baseless first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Rubio Heads to Israel Amid Tensions Among US Middle East Allies
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks to members of the media, before departing for Israel at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, US, September 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Nathan Howard/Pool
US President Donald Trump’s top diplomat, Marco Rubio headed to Israel on Saturday, amid tensions with fellow US allies in the Middle East over Israel’s strike on Hamas leaders in Qatar and expansion of settlements in the West Bank.
Speaking to reporters before departure, Rubio reiterated that the US and President Donald Trump were not happy about the strikes.
Rubio said the US relationship with Israel would not be affected, but that he would discuss with the Israelis how the strike would affect Trump’s desire to secure the return of all the hostages held by Hamas, get rid of the terrorists and end the Gaza war.
“What’s happened, has happened,” he said. “We’re gonna meet with them. We’re gonna talk about what the future holds,” he said.
“There are still 48 hostages that deserve to be released immediately, all at once. And there is still the hard work ahead once this ends, of rebuilding Gaza in a way that provides people the quality of life that they all want.”
Rubio said it had yet to be determined who would do that, who would pay for it and who would be in charge of the process.
After Israel, Rubio is due to join Trump’s planned visit to Britain next week.
Hamas still holds 48 hostages, and Qatar has been one of the mediators, along with the US, trying to secure a ceasefire deal that would include the captives’ release.
On Tuesday, Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an airstrike on Doha. US officials described it as a unilateral escalation that did not serve American or Israeli interests.
The strike on the territory of a close US ally sparked broad condemnation from other Arab states and derailed ceasefire and hostage talks brokered by Qatar.
On Friday, Rubio met with Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani at the White House, underscoring competing interests in the region that Rubio will seek to balance on his trip. Later that day, US President Donald Trump held dinner with the prime minister in New York.
Rubio’s trip comes ahead of high-level meetings at the United Nations in New York later this month. Countries including France and Britain are expected to recognize Palestinian statehood, a move opposed by Israel.
Washington says such recognition would bolster Hamas and Rubio has suggested the move could spur the annexation of the West Bank sought by hardline members of the Israeli government.
ON Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed an agreement to push ahead with a settlement expansion plan that would cut across West Bank land that the Palestinians seek for a state. Last week, the United Arab Emirates warned that this would cross a red line and undermine the U.S.-brokered Abraham Accords that normalized UAE-Israel relations in 2020.
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Netanyahu Posts Message Appearing to Confirm Hamas Leaders Survived Doha Strike
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a Plenum session of the Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, in Jerusalem, June 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun
i24 News – In a statement posted to social media on Saturday evening, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the Qatar-based leadership of Hamas, reiterating that the jihadist group had to regard for the lives of Gazans and represented an obstacle to ending the war and releasing the Israelis it held hostage.
The wording of Netanyahu’s message appeared to confirm that the strike targeting the Hamas leaders in Doha was not crowned with success.
“The Hamas terrorists chiefs living in Qatar don’t care about the people in Gaza,” wrote Netanyahu. “They blocked all ceasefire attempts in order to endlessly drag out the war.” He added that “Getting rid of them would rid the main obstacle to releasing all our hostages and ending the war.”
Israel is yet to officially comment on the result of the strike, which has incurred widespread international criticism.
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Trump Hosts Qatari Prime Minister After Israeli Attack in Doha
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani attends an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council, following an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders in Doha, Qatar, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, Sept. 11, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
US President Donald Trump held dinner with the Qatari prime minister in New York on Friday, days after US ally Israel attacked Hamas leaders in Doha.
Israel attempted to kill the political leaders of Hamas with an attack in Qatar on Tuesday, a strike that risked derailing US-backed efforts to broker a truce in Gaza and end the nearly two-year-old conflict. The attack was widely condemned in the Middle East and beyond as an act that could escalate tensions in a region already on edge.
Trump expressed annoyance about the strike in a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and sought to assure the Qataris that such attacks would not happen again.
Trump and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani were joined by a top Trump adviser, US special envoy Steve Witkoff.
“Great dinner with POTUS. Just ended,” Qatar’s deputy chief of mission, Hamah Al-Muftah, said on X.
The White House confirmed the dinner had taken place but offered no details.
The session followed an hour-long meeting that al-Thani had at the White House on Friday with Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
A source briefed on the meeting said they discussed Qatar’s future as a mediator in the region and defense cooperation in the wake of the Israeli strikes against Hamas in Doha.
Trump said he was unhappy with Israel’s strike, which he described as a unilateral action that did not advance US or Israeli interests.
Washington counts Qatar as a strong Gulf ally. Qatar has been a main mediator in long-running negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas in Gaza, for the release of Israeli hostages held in Gaza and for a post-conflict plan for the territory.
Al-Thani blamed Israel on Tuesday for trying to sabotage chances for peace but said Qatar would not be deterred from its role as mediator.