Israel Must Control Gaza’s Border With Egypt: Netanyahu

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a commitment to restore control of the Gaza Strip’s border with Egypt as the Israel-Hamas war rages on, intensifying Israel’s mission to neutralize Hamas in a battle it says it expects to last for months. According to the UN, tens of thousands of Palestinians who have been internally displaced have been pouring into the already overcrowded town of Rafah in Gaza’s southernmost region in recent days. About 85% of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have already been forced from their homes by the Israeli-Hamas conflict, flattening the northern portion of the region and raising concerns that the south may suffer a similar fate.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared on Saturday that Israel should control the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, predicting that the conflict in the Palestinian enclave and on other fronts in the area would rage for many more months. “The Philadelphi Corridor or, perhaps more accurately, the southern stoppage point (of Gaza) must be in our hands,” stated Netanyahu. It has to be closed. It is obvious that a different agreement would not guarantee the demilitarization we desire. This is the height of the war. We’re fighting from every angle. It will take time to win this. The conflict will go for many more months, as stated by the chief of staff of the Israeli Defense Forces.