Blinken says Israel has agreed to Gaza withdrawal terms in ‘bridging proposal,’ despite reported comments from Netanyahu

Doha, Qatar CNN —

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that despite reported comments from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel has agreed to withdrawals of IDF forces from Gaza that are laid out in the recent mediators’ proposal to get closer to a ceasefire agreement with Hamas.

“The agreement is very clear on the schedule and the locations of IDF withdrawals from Gaza, and Israel has agreed to that,” said Blinken in remarks to reporters before departing Qatar.

Blinken was responding to Israeli media reports that Netanyahu told a group of families of terror victims and hostages that he conveyed to Blinken that Israel will not leave the Philadelphi corridor along the Egypt-Gaza border and the Netzarim corridor, which bisects Gaza, “regardless of the pressure to do so.” They are “strategic military and political assets,” Netanyahu added, according to the reports.

Blinken and other US officials have declined to detail the proposal the US laid out last week. The ceasefire deal is structured in three phases and would eventually include the full withdrawal of the IDF from Gaza. But Israeli officials have repeatedly insisted that a solution must be found to better control the Egypt-Gaza border, which has long been used for smuggling.

The location of troops in the Philadelphi corridor and the question of whether Palestinians will be able to able to return home in the north have been two of the biggest hurdles in the ceasefire negotiations. Hamas has insisted that the IDF withdraw fully from Gaza and that citizens must be allowed to return home.

Blinken said that Netanyahu told him directly in their meeting that Israel agreed to “the bridging proposal and thus the detailed plan” for