Ahmad 
High-level Egyptian sources denied the validity of the reports circulated by the Israeli media regarding the existence of agreements or understandings between Egypt and Israel regarding the Philadelphia Axis.
The sources confirmed that these allegations come in the context of Israel’s attempt to cover up its ongoing military failure in the Gaza Strip.
The Egyptian sources stressed Cairo’s firm position, which stipulates the necessity of the Israeli army’s withdrawal from the Rafah crossing from the Palestinian side to ensure its complete reoperation, in addition to Egypt’s emphasis on the inevitability of complete Israeli withdrawal from the Philadelphia axis.
On the other hand, Israeli press reports stated that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insists that Israeli forces remain in the Philadelphia axis, which his office confirmed to the media.
The newspaper “Israel Hayom” indicated that Netanyahu explained this position to the negotiating delegation with the mediators regarding the prisoner exchange deal with the Hamas movement. He also presented it to the Israeli mini-cabinet for security and political affairs, in addition to representatives of the United States of America.
Israeli Channel 12 also quoted Defense Ministry officials as saying that Netanyahu had added clauses that may obstruct or delay reaching an agreement with Hamas, including a clause that prevents the return of Palestinians to the northern Gaza Strip, which may hinder reaching a prisoner exchange deal.
In a related context, the Israeli delegation, which had left for Qatar to negotiate with Hamas, returned to Tel Aviv, where no additional details about the course of the negotiations or their progress have been revealed until now.
Israeli forces withdraw from the vicinity of Al Shifa Complex after a two-week siege