Shortly after the bodies of the four hostages transferred to Israel late Wednesday night were identified, an Israeli source on Thursday morning said that Israel does not intend to comply with the terms of the ceasefire agreement by withdrawing from the Philadelphi Corridor.

According to the agreement signed by Israel, IDF forces are supposed to begin withdrawing from the Philadelphi route this coming Shabbos, the 42nd day of the ceasefire, and withdraw completely from the Strip by March 9, the 50th day of the ceasefire.

The Israeli official stated: “We will not leave the Philadelphi Corridor. We will not allow Hamas murderers to roam around with pickup trucks and rifles on our border and we won’t let them rearm themselves through smuggling.”

Ynet reported that withdrawing from Philadelphi was one of the “red lines” Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich set for Netanyahu as a condition for remaining in the government. Of course, it is widely believed that Netanyahu never intended to leave the Philadelphi as the withdrawal is part of the second phase of the agreement, which is unlikely to be reached due to Hamas’s demands.

Later on Thursday, Defense Minister Yisrael Katz officially confirmed that Israel has no intention of withdrawing from the Philadelphi Corridor due to the threat of smuggling between Egypt and Gaza.

“The Philadelphi  Corridor will remain a buffer zone just like in Lebanon and Syria,” Katz emphasized. “I’ve seen several tunnels penetrating the Philadelphi with my own eyes, some of which were closed – and some open.”

Meanwhile, Hamas spokesperson Abd al-Latif al-Qanoua said on Thursday morning that the terror group is willing to extend the first phase of the deal or merge the two phases, “according to our red lines.”

According to Israeli media reports on Wednesday night, one of the main issues preventing the extension of the first phase of the ceasefire is Hamas’s absurd demands for the release of each additional hostage. Hamas views all the remaining hostages as soldiers since they are all men under 50.

According to reports, the demands are so extreme that Israel would not even have enough Palestinian terrorists in their prisons to release in exchange for the 59 remaining hostages, both living and deceased.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)