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By Sandy Fitzgerald From Newsmax

President Joe Biden was expected to press Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a phone call Wednesday to be more flexible so that an agreement can be struck for a cease-fire and the release of hostages in Gaza, according to a source, Axios reported. 

The talk between the two leaders was expected to focus on Netanyahu’s demand that the Israeli Defense Forces remain deployed along the Egypt-Gaza border, in the Philadelphi corridor, to keep weapons from coming through to Hamas, Axios reported.

Netanyahu’s demand has become a significant hindrance to a cease-fire deal, Israeli negotiators and U.S. officials have said, and Biden is expected to try to persuade Netanyahu to ease on his demands. 

Officials from Israel, the U.S., and Egypt met in Cairo on Sunday and Monday to discuss the corridor. 

The Israeli side, following orders from Netanyahu, presented a map that showed some of its forces could be reduced along the border, but still would be deployed. 

The map, showing where the IDF would be located, would be part of the negotiations. But the Egyptian negotiators rejected the plan and the U.S. told Israel the map could not be used, officials said.

Israeli, Egyptian, and U.S. officials met in Cairo on Sunday and Monday to discuss the Philadelphi corridor.

Netanyahu, meanwhile, told families of hostages being held in Gaza that he may have convinced Secretary of State Antony Blinken to agree to his demands that the IDF remain in control of the entire corridor. 

State Department officials, however, said Blinken has not agreed and the U.S. does not agree with Netanyahu’s demands. Further, Blinken said Tuesday in Doha, before leaving the area, that the U.S. is against Israel occupying any part of the Gaza Strip for a long period.

Meanwhile, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Israeli security service leaders told Netanyahu that delaying a deal until his demands are met about the Philadelphi corridor could raise the risk of widespread regional war while endangering hostages remaining in Gaza. 

Gallant also visited IDF forces at the corridor Wednesday, where he told them that the Hamas Rafah Brigade that was deployed in the region had been defeated.

“We got to the point where we destroyed 150 tunnels,” he said, adding that one of the main goals for the war remains in freeing the hostages.

Sandy Fitzgerald ✉

Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics. 

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