What Is the Philadelphi Corridor, and Why Does It Matter?

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has vowed to maintain an Israeli military presence in a narrow strip of the Gaza Strip along the border with Egypt, one of the main sticking points in the talks over a cease-fire deal in the war. Netanyahu has called the area, known in Israel as the Philadelphi Corridor, a “lifeline” for Hamas’ smuggling operations.

Control of the corridor has emerged as a primary bone of contention in the cease-fire talks mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States. Hamas has said it will not accept any deal that does not require a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Here’s a look at the importance of the border area:

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What is the corridor?

It is land about 100 yards wide that runs roughly 8 miles from Israel’s border to the Mediterranean. The new border, which divided the city of Rafah, was set up under the Egypt-Israel peace treaty of 1979. To the northeast is Gaza, while Egypt lies to the southwest.

Egyptian border guards have been policing the land under an agreement with Israel made in 2005 when Israeli forces withdrew from Gaza. The Israelis used the code name Philadelphi for the area, while Egyptian officials call it Salah Al Din.

Why does the corridor matter to Israel?

Senior Israeli officials had set control of the strip as a military objective during the war in Gaza that began in October 2023. Hamas had dug tunnels beneath the strip — some wide enough for trucks, according to military experts — and used them to smuggle weapons and personnel into Gaza territory from Egypt.

Israel invaded southern Gaza in May and soon afterward said its troops were positioned along the entirety of the corridor.

“This is the way they can get in and out without asking the Israelis,” said Ahron Bregman, a political scientist and expert in Middle East security issues at King’s College in London, and a former Israeli military officer. If the tunnels remain open, he said in an interview this spring, it will be easier for Hamas to rebuild its military capacity after the war.

What does Egypt say about the corridor?

Egypt’s position on the corridor has been clear: It has consistently said that the long-standing “security agreements and protocols” it and Israel have signed to govern the area commit Israel to keeping troops away from it.

For decades before the war, Egypt stationed guards along its side of the Gaza border. It reinforced those forces after the Oct. 7 Hamas-led assault on Israel that set off the current fighting in Gaza.

Egypt has warned Israel to avoid doing anything that might force Palestinians across the border or threaten a landmark peace agreement signed by the two countries in 1979. While Egypt has opened its borders to refugees in other regional conflicts, the government of President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi fears that if Palestinian civilians crossed the border to escape the war they could destabilize the country and become a drag on its economy.

The government also sees Hamas as an adversary and does not want to give it a foothold in Egypt. Hamas began as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist movement that was closely linked to the government that el-Sissi overthrew in 2013. His government has suppressed the Muslim Brotherhood since taking power.

Why does the corridor matter to Palestinians?

Egypt is the only country other than Israel that borders Gaza, so Israel’s control of the corridor is likely to be viewed by Palestinians as a sign of increasing isolation.

The cross-border tunnels used by Hamas have also been a conduit for Egyptian and Palestinian merchants to bring food and other goods into Gaza. Israeli control of the strip will likely halt that underground trade.

Hamas has said it opposes any Israeli presence in the border strip and instead wants a complete Israeli withdrawal from the whole of Gaza.

How is the corridor affecting Israel-Hamas peace talks?

Netanyahu in public has adopted an uncompromising stance on the corridor, insisting Israeli forces will stay there to prevent Hamas smuggling weapons and personnel. In a news conference Monday, he said, “Being present in the Philadelphi corridor” is a strategic, diplomatic issue, and added: “We need to reinforce the fact that we’re there.”

That appears to be a change from an earlier cease-fire proposal that Israel had supported in May, which suggested that the military would pull out of the border zone. In late July, according to New York Times reporting, Israel provided new information to mediators from Qatar, Egypt and the United States that Israel only intended to reduce its forces in the area.

On Monday, Khalil al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official, said the corridor was the primary obstacle in the talks. “Without withdrawing from the Philadelphi corridor, there will be no agreement,” Hayya, Hamas’ lead negotiator, told pan-Arab broadcaster Al Jazeera.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in August that the United States would “not accept any long-term occupation of Gaza by Israel,” an apparent reference to an Israeli withdrawal that would include from the border strip.

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