Amid the tensions between Israel and Egypt over Israel’s insistence on keeping IDF troops on the Philadelphi corridor, Israel has not had an ambassador in Egypt for the past two weeks. The reason for this is a deliberate delay on the part of Cairo, i24NEWS reported on Sunday.
According to the report, former ambassador Amira Oron concluded her term in office and returned to Israel two weeks ago, but the new ambassador, Uri Rothman, has not yet been accepted by Egypt, and as such, is still in Israel.
A source with knowledge of the details said in a conversation with i24NEWS that "the Egyptians are taking their time on purpose to punish us, not even advancing the receipt of his letter of reference for the position."
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in response, "The statements in the report are inaccurate and do not reflect the situation."
The Security Cabinet recently decided that the IDF would remain on the Philadelphi corridor, as part of a possible deal for the release of hostages.
A senior Egyptian official later clarified, "We won’t agree to an Israeli military presence along the Philadelphi Corridor. This has been our stance from the start of the negotiations, and we have no intention of changing it."
However, the official added, "I won’t comment on the introduction of Israeli surveillance and monitoring equipment along the route." This indicates that the Egyptian official in Cairo declined to clarify whether Egypt might silently approve the establishment of electronic devices for Israeli monitoring along the route.
Last week, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held an English-language press conference, in which he stressed the need for Israel to maintain control of the Philadelphi corridor.
“You have to understand the centrality of the Philadelphi corridor to the arming of Gaza, to the arming of Hamas, and this all led to the October 7th massacre, which Hamas has proudly vowed to do again and again and again,” he said.
"Gaza cannot have a future if Gaza remains porous and you can enable the rearmament of terrorists through the Philadelphi corridor," stressed Netanyahu.
Netanyahu stated that the retention of control of the Philadelphi Corridor was also necessary to secure the release of the remaining hostages. "If you leave this corridor, you can't prevent Hamas from not only smuggling weapons in, you can't prevent them from smuggling hostages out. It's walking distance. It's nothing."
He said that if this happened the hostages would "disappear in the Sinai, and then they end up in Iran or in Yemen. They're gone forever."