Sinwar’s Secret Plan to ‘Smuggle Hostages to Iran,” Planning to Escape to Egypt Through the Tunnels in Philadelphi Corridor in Rafah

Israel must not, cannot give up control of the Philadelphi Corridor …. ever.

Netanyahu: ‘A deal to withdraw from Philadelphi Corridor will kill us’

“The importance of this corridor cannot be exaggerated. Israel’s capture of it has uncovered deep below its surface an extensive infrastructure of giant tunnels into Egypt — thus revealing the principal route through which Hamas imported its rockets, rocket launchers, vehicles and ammunition.

Hamas needs to control Philadelphi in order to resupply itself. Without that, it will be finished. That’s why it’s insisting that there will be no deal while Israel remains in control.” (Melanie Phillips)

Sinwar’s secret plan to ‘smuggle hostages to Iran’

Papers captured by the IDF and information obtained under interrogation may indicate how the Hamas terror chief plans to escape his dire predicament

BY Elon Perry, Jewish Chronicle, September 05, 2024:

During a 15-minute press conference for the foreign media in Jerusalem last night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu astounded the audience by claiming that Hamas was planning to smuggle hostages out of Gaza using the much-disputed Philadelphi corridor.

“If we leave the Philadelphi corridor, it will be impossible to prevent Hamas not only from smuggling weapons, but also from smuggling hostages,” he said.

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What was the background to this claim? Intelligence sources have told the JC that Sinwar’s plan was to smuggle himself and the remaining Hamas leaders along with Israeli hostages through the Philadelphi corridor to Sinai and from there to Iran.

This was reportedly revealed during the interrogation of a captured senior Hamas official, as well as by information obtained from documents seized on Thursday, August 29, the day the six bodies of the murdered hostages were retrieved.

Hamas has been insisting for months on taking control of the corridor while Israel has strongly resisted. This is why no deal or compromise has been agreed in the last eight months, despite the efforts of the US, Egypt and Qatar.

Sinwar has most likely come to realise that the war was over as far as his organisation was concerned and that his chances of achieving military success were nil, despite his success in international propaganda.

Sinwar sees only one way out – to save his own life by abandoning the battlefield and fleeing Gaza. He has not insisted on the withdrawal of IDF forces from the Netzerim crossing, as there is no possibility of smuggling or escaping from Gaza through this crossing.

To Sinwar, the Philadelphi corridor has turned out to be the only option available to fulfill his plan, which is defined by Israeli security officials as cowardly. However, the Israelis are not even considering withdrawing from the Philadelphi, something that Netanyahu calls taboo – even at the price of no deal or further dead hostages.

Another reason for Israel’s insistence on controlling the Philadelphi is the recent tragedy in which six hostages were cold-bloodedly murdered. Within both the Security Cabinet and the army, it is assumed that giving in to Sinwar’s demand for Philadelphi would be seen as weakness and a message to Hamas that killing hostages is profitable, and that such a concession would lead to further demands and more concessions, strengthening Hamas and endangering Israel’s security.

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In a stormy meeting held in Israel this week to discuss the tragedy of the murder of the six abductees, most members of the Cabinet agreed that a withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, including the Philadelphi corridor, could reinstate Hamas rule, which has proven over the last decade that its focus is not on peace but on the elimination of Israel. Netanyahu informed President Biden of this in a classified internal document back on May 27 and again on August 16, when he responded to Hamas’s demands during the failed negotiations. These turned out to be a waste of time because Sinwar had decided in advance not to agree to any deal or compromise if he did not get full control of the Philadelphi corridor.

The Philadelphi corridor was established on the completion of Israel’s withdrawal from Sinai in 1982, following the peace agreement with Egypt. It is a 14 km two-lane road running across the southern edge of the Gaza Strip from Israel to the Mediterranean Sea, between Rafah in the Gaza Strip and Sinai in Egypt.

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