
A senior diplomatic source has said that in contradiction to reports, Israel will not exit the Philadelphi Corridor, and will remain in it during the entire 42-day first stage of the ceasefire-prisoner swap deal with Hamas.
"The scope of the forces will remain at its current size, but will be spread out differently - including in security posts, patrols, observation posts, and control along the entire route," the source said. "During the first stage, beginning on the 16th day, we will begin negotiations to end the war."
"If Hamas does not agree to Israel's demands to end the war (fulfillment of the goals of the war), Israel will remain in the Philadelphi Corridor even on the 42nd day, and obviously also on the 50th day. Meaning, in practice, Israel is remaining in the Philadelphi Corridor until further notice."
Earlier, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, Israel will complete its withdrawal from the Philadelphi Corridor, which runs along the Gaza-Egypt border, on the last day of the a ceasefire-hostage deal's implementation.
The report said that in the first stage in such a deal, Israel will partially withdraw and reduce its forces in the area, and in the second stage, the IDF will remain in a number of supervisory posts along the route, and on the last day of the third stage completely withdraw its forces.