Is the Philadelphi corridor really worth more than the lives of the hostages?

Whether or not the hostages will come home or be forsaken to die in Gaza now hinges on the fate of a small strip of desert sand.

In May this year, the IDF took control of the Philadelphi corridor, a 14-kilometre-long demilitarised strip of land between Gaza and Egypt. Israel’s presence there is a direct violation of the Camp David Accords, leading Egypt to demand that Israel withdraws immediately.

The fact that Hamas built tunnels under this corridor to smuggle in weapons is no less a violation of international law. Their crimes of October 7 and the taking of so many innocent hostages are affronts to our humanity that many Israelis will never forgive. Thankfully, most of these tunnels have now been destroyed.

Yet in just four months, the Philadelphi corridor and the Netzarim corridor that severs the southern and northern parts of Gaza have become the holy of holies for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to the logic now governing the negotiations, the corridor has become land Israel can no longer live without.

The negotiations resumed on Sunday, as fighting errupted between Hezbollah and Israel on the northern border,

Based on everything we know about the negotiations in Doha and Cairo, giving up this strip of land is the best chance Israel has to secure a more peaceful tomorrow for future generations.

Former cabinet members Gadi Eisenkot, Benny Gantz, and IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi all believe a deal can be made with Hamas by Israel being flexible on control of this border under proposals for an international force to be placed there, as proposed by the US.

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and the heads of all our security services have concluded they can mitigate the risk of pulling troops out of the Philadelphi corridor, and that establishing such a monitoring mechanism would take months.

What's more, Gallant and the negotiators told Netanyahu in Sunday's cabinet meeting that delaying any deal until those demands are met could endanger the 105 hostages still in captivity and raise the risk of regional war.

This regional war with Hezbollah and the Islamic Republic of Iran would have devastating consequences for millions of people.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is clearly concerned that that getting stuck on the Philadelphi Corridor could derail the talks. He said last week that it is essential “that the negotiators working the details of this have maximum flexibility from the Israeli government and Hamas’s leadership”.

Blinken emphasised that a deal in Gaza is essential to resolving other regional issues. "A deal is the key to actually move things in the north with Lebanon and Hezbollah in a better direction. It’s the key to making sure we can take down the temperature in the Red Sea with the Houthis. It’s the key to seeing if we can pursue a normalisation agreement between Israel and Saudi Arabia, which both countries remain very interested in. It’s the key to putting everyone — starting with Israel — on a path to greater peace and security”.

Ultimately, one more corridor, another wall, another checkpoint, another surveillance drone all play a small measure in keeping us safe — until they don't. We learned that lesson on October 7.

So far, the best decisions we have taken to give us long-term safety far beyond any electrified wall, terrorist assassination, fence or corridor have been the peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan. Long-term regional agreements boost the enduring security of everyone far beyond these short-term strategic measures.

But 64 members of Knesset have decided that they want to keep a man in power who values the corridor above all else, including the lives of the hostages.

Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, is one of the hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza. His mother Rachel Goldberg Polin had this to say to those who feel the hostages should remain in Gaza “for us to ride on their backs to continue this war”:

“To them, I would say, first of all, you're welcome to have that opinion. That's what's so beautiful about being in a democracy. You should voice your opinion if that's what you feel. What I would recommend is, let's take a pause. And if you feel so strongly that we need to have 86-year-old Shlomo Mansour there, it doesn't have to be Shlomo. Let's pause and put your 86-year-old grandfather there or 86-year-old father there and let Shlomo out, because I think he has served his time. If you feel voraciously strongly that we need to have a one-and-a-half-year-old child there, let's pause and you put in your one-and-a-half-year-old baby or nephew or grandson. But I think Kfir has served his time. If you are committed to having a 40-year-old woman there, great. Put your wife in and bring out Carmel Gat. She has served her time.”

Avraham Munder, Alex Dancyg, Chaim Peri, Yagev Buchshtab, Yoram Metzger, and Nadav Popplewell, all came home in coffins on Tuesday.

We may never see Hersh Goldberg-Polin, Naama Levy, or Liri Albag home, but we will have the Philadelphi corridor.

We may never see the beautiful faces of Ariel and Kfir Bibas again, but we will have the Philadelphi corridor.

This small piece of land has become our new Temple Mount.

It’s the reason we have no deal, the reason we continue to fight, and the reason why we may win many battles but ultimately lose the war.

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