Egypt Accuses Netanyahu of Spreading Lies to Cover up his Failure in Gaza

Egypt accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of spreading lies about smuggling weapons into the Gaza Strip via the Philadelphi Corridor to cover up his failure, while Hamas said that “there is no need for new proposals for a ceasefire and what is required is to pressure Netanyahu’s government and oblige them to what has been agreed upon.”

Cairo News Channel quoted a high-level source as saying, “Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is spreading lies about arms smuggling from Egypt to the Gaza Strip to cover up his failure to eliminate the arms smuggling mafia from Kerem Shalom to the Gaza Strip.”

He added: The Israeli government has completely lost its credibility internally and externally and continues to promote its lies to cover up its failure. Netanyahu is paving the way through his claims of smuggling weapons from Egypt to declare his security and political failure and the failure to find the hostages or achieve any military victory in Gaza and the West Bank.

The source added that there is dissatisfaction from all parties with the Israeli Prime Minister’s continued failure to reach a truce agreement.

He continued: Netanyahu allows the smuggling of weapons from inside Israel to the West Bank and ignores the sale of weapons to the West Bank in order to find justifications for his aggression against the Palestinian people.

Several Arab countries have declared their solidarity with Egypt, and described Netanyahu’s accusations of arms smuggling through the Philadelphi Corridor as baseless allegations aimed at obstructing the mediation efforts undertaken by Egypt, Qatar and the United States to reach an exchange deal that would lead to a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

The Israeli Prime Minister said that Hamas obtains weapons from Egypt through the Philadelphi Corridor.

Netanyahu claimed that he wanted to return the prisoners, stressing the need not to abandon the Philadelphi Corridor, as it is the lifeline for Hamas.

Netanyahu added: We were careful not to let a pin enter Gaza from our side, but they armed themselves through the Philadelphi Corridor and Egypt.

Egypt insists on the necessity of the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Philadelphi Corridor and the Rafah crossing, which it took control of on May 7.

The 14-kilometre-long axis on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt is a major point of contention in the faltering ceasefire negotiations.

Hamas: We do not need new proposals

For its part, the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) said that there is no need for new proposals for a ceasefire time and that what is required now is to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government and oblige them to what has been agreed upon.

Hamas warned – in a statement on Wednesday evening – that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is thwarting an agreement to stop the war in the Gaza Strip and exchange prisoners by insisting on remaining in the Philadelphi border axis between the Strip and Egypt.

In two press conferences on Monday and Wednesday, Netanyahu stressed that he “will not withdraw” his army from the Philadelphi corridor on Gaza’s border with Egypt, reiterating his allegations that weapons had previously passed through this corridor to Hamas.

Tel Aviv’s continued presence in this axis is one of the most important reasons hindering the achievement of an agreement between Israel and Hamas to stop the war in Gaza and exchange prisoners, as the Palestinian movement and Egypt reject this.

In response, Hamas said, via its Telegram account, that “Netanyahu’s decision not to withdraw from the Salah al-Din (Philadelphi) axis aims to thwart reaching an agreement” to stop the war in the Gaza Strip and exchange prisoners.

The movement added: “We do not need new proposals” for this agreement, in reference to news circulating in American media about Washington preparing a new proposal for a prisoner exchange deal and a ceasefire.
The movement stressed that “what is required now is to pressure Netanyahu and his government and oblige them to what was agreed upon” during the previous negotiations.

She warned against “falling into Netanyahu’s trap and tricks, as he uses negotiations to prolong the aggression against our people.”

For months, Egypt, Qatar and the United States have been leading indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas, but they have not resulted in an agreement because Israel has rejected Hamas’s demand to end the war, withdraw its forces from the Gaza Strip and return displaced Palestinians to the north of the Strip.

In contempt of the international community, Israel continues this war, ignoring the UN Security Council resolution to stop it immediately, and the International Court of Justice’s orders to take measures to prevent acts of genocide and to improve the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza.

With American support, Israel has been waging a war on Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving more than 135,000 Palestinian martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing, amid massive destruction and deadly famine.