IDF can temporarily withdraw from Gaza to make way for deal, defense sources say

The IDF can temporarily withdraw from Gaza to allow for the first phase of a hostage deal to move forward, top defense sources have told The Jerusalem Post, as mediating countries Egypt and Hamas have sought to finalize an agreement with the help of the United States. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to discuss the deal with top US officials during his three-day visit to Washington, which began Monday night. To underscore his commitment to securing a deal, Netanyahu brought released hostages and relatives of hostages, as well as rescued hostage Noa Argamani and her father, on his plane with him to the United States.

He has pushed back at criticism, particularly from defense officials, that he has not been flexible enough on some of his key principled points, including his insistence that Israel must retain security control of Gaza.

Multiple top defense sources have told the Jerusalem Post that there would be no significant security loss to Israel if it withdrew fully from Gaza for 42 days to enable the release of anywhere from 18 to 33 live hostages out of the remaining 120. 

The IDF announcement that Monday that hostages Yagev Buchshtab, a 35-year-old sound technician, and Alex Dancyg, 76, a historian, had been killed in captivity only underscores the critical nature of releasing the captives.

Defense sources argued that Israel has withdrawn at one point or another from every part of the Gaza Strip, and as of Monday was reinvading Khan Yunis after having left it with no Israeli soldiers since April 7.

With the return of IDF forces to Khan Yunis, the IDF has now successfully re-invaded every part of Gaza, given that over the last couple of months, it reinvaded different parts of northern Gaza.

The IDF took operational control of northern Gaza by mid-January and then had almost no forces there for months before reinvading.

Likewise, the top sources have said that creative solutions can maintain security on the Philadelphi Corridor even after an IDF withdrawal and that, if necessary, the IDF could quickly return there as well.

Moreover, the top sources have said that Hamas has so many hidden weapons in northern Gaza already that when its fighters return to the North, they will be able to pass through the central Gaza vetting area unarmed and simply gather arms from their hiding places afterward.

The sources view Netanyahu as having slowed and tried to sabotage the deal but still hope he may eventually sign it, if only with the idea that he can pull out of the deal before Phase II and return IDF forces having received some hostages back.

Netanyahu has insisted that he is doing everything possible to secure a deal and that the key significant security points he has held are necessary to ensure the defeat of Hamas.

White House remains hopeful

US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters in Washington that talks were ongoing.

“We have significantly narrowed the disagreements between the parties and have a few remaining issues that need to be resolved now. Since Friday, they have not yet been resolved. 

“We continue discussions with the other mediators and with ... Israel to try to reach a resolution. But we don't. We don't have that yet,” Miller said.

An Israeli negotiating team is set to head to Doha on Thursday to participate in talks to secure a deal that would also include a lull to the war and the release of Palestinian security prisoners and terrorists held in Israeli jails.

The US hopes to transform the deal into a permanent ceasefire.

Reuters contributed to this report.