Egypt Daily News – Major General Samir Farag, described the claims made by Israeli media that Israel will not withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor as “mere rhetoric for Israeli consumption.”
The Egyptian strategic thinker stated that the agreement between Egypt and Israel regarding the Philadelphi Corridor is an annex to the peace treaty between the two countries, and that “any disruption concerning the corridor constitutes a violation of the peace agreement.”
Israeli media outlets quoted an Israeli official as saying that Israel will not withdraw its forces from the Philadelphi Corridor, located near the Gaza-Egypt border. This coincided with statements by Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz, who said that Israeli forces “will remain indefinitely in the buffer zone along the border with Lebanon, and their deployment there is linked to the situation.” He added that the forces “will also remain in the Philadelphia Corridor for the current phase.”
What is the Philadelphi Corridor?
The Philadelphi Corridor, also known as the Salah al-Din Axis, is a 14.5-kilometer-long border strip stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to the Kerem Shalom crossing on Palestinian territory, between the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip.
The Philadelphi Corridor is considered a buffer zone under the 1979 Camp David Accords signed between Egypt and Israel. Israel occupied the corridor in May 2024 during its ongoing war on Gaza, which began after the Al-Aqsa Flood operation carried out by Hamas and Palestinian factions inside Israeli settlements surrounding the Gaza Strip.
According to the Gaza ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, which began on January 19, Israeli forces are to start withdrawing from the Philadelphi Corridor after the release of the last hostage in the first phase by the 42nd day, and complete the withdrawal by the 50th day at the latest.
The Philadelphi Protocol
Major General Samir Farag said that if Israeli violations of the peace agreement and the security presence arrangements and annexes related to the treaty continue, “Egypt could, instead of deploying 750 soldiers on the border, deploy an entire armored brigade in that area.”
Egypt and Israel had signed a protocol called the “Philadelphi Protocol,” which defines the military presence of both sides in the area. It allows Egypt to deploy 750 soldiers along the border with Gaza, though these are not military forces but rather police forces tasked with combating terrorism and infiltration across the border.
The Egyptian military expert considered these Israeli statements as “rhetoric for domestic Israeli consumption” and an attempt to distract the Israeli public, given that the corridor, which is only 8 meters wide, “has no tactical or military significance.”
The Netzarim Scenario
He added that Israel is repeating the same scenario with the Philadelphi Corridor as it did with the Netzarim Corridor, where it “repeatedly announced that it would not withdraw from the Netzarim Corridor but eventually did.” He noted that the same scenario is being repeated with the Philadelphi Corridor.
The Israeli army had completely withdrawn from the Netzarim Corridor, which separates northern Gaza from southern Gaza, on February 9, following the ceasefire agreement, despite previous statements by Israeli officials that the army would not withdraw from it.
