Whatsapp19 years ago today the Sharon government began to implement the Disengagement Plan that saw more than 8,000 Israeli residents of Gush Katif and other areas of Gaza as well as the Northern Shomron be forcibly removed by Israeli forces.
When the plan was agreed upon in Israel, the Sharon government promised that the Philadelphi Corridor that runs along the Gaza-Egypt Border would remain in Israel’s hands. After the pullout, then Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice urged Sharon to hand over the Philadelphi corridor to the Palestinian Authority. Despite his previous promises to the Israeli electorate, this is in fact what Sharon did.
The Bush Administration’s demand that Sharon hand over the Philadelphi Corridor to the PA is diretly connected to the rise of Hamas and the current situation. The pressure on Israel to relinquish was not a mistake, but appears to be a calculated approach to weaken Israel and make it dependent on American weapons. After all, the more Israel is at war, the more it needs US weapons.
Once Hamas took over the Gaza Strip in 2006, weapons smuggling surged both above and below the corridor. As has been proven by the countless tunnels, Hamas was able to build its entire terror apparatus from the flow of weapons and supplies coming either over or below the Philadelphi Corridor.
This is why Israel has not only taken it back during the current war, but expanded the corridor to be much wider than it once was. Controlling the corridor is critical to drying up Hamas and preventing the Jihadist group from controlling the area.
Biden’s insistence that Israel sign his ceasefire agreement which calls for the IDF to retreat from the Philadelphi Corridor, runs against his claim that he supports Israel’s right to destroy Hamas. Once again if the IDF continues to assert control over the Philadelphi Corridor, Hamas has no future.
This is why Prime Minister Netanyahu has continued to make the case that the IDF must remain in the Philadelphi Corridor as well as the Netzarim Corridor in order to prevent the free flow of weapons into the Gaza Strip as well as a return of terrorists to the Northern part of the Gaza Strip. Hamas knows that it cannot sign a deal that does not demand that Israel retreats from these locations and Israel cannot sign a deal that forces it out.
The key to to Israel’s victory of Hamas, is not the release of hostages, but a permanent control over these two areas in order to ensure that Hamas is once and for all finished off.
