Netanyahu says security in Gaza is critical to stop Hamas smuggling hostages into Iran: 'lost forever'

Join Fox News for access to this content You have reached your maximum number of articles. Log in or create an account FREE of charge to continue reading. By entering your email and pushing continue, you are agreeing to Fox News' Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, which includes our Notice of Financial Incentive. Please enter a valid email address. Having trouble? Click here.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is making clear that his forces will not agree to Hamas’ demands to vacate Gaza, for two crucial reasons – overall national security and ensuring the safe return of the remaining hostages still in Hamas captivity.

Concerns continue to mount that Hamas could look to smuggle some of the remaining 97 Israeli hostages still in captivity into the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt, which has long been deemed a haven for Islamic militant groups, and where they could then be transported to Yemen or Iran.

According to Netanyahu, the best way to prevent these Hamas hostage smuggling efforts is through maintaining the contested Philadelphi Route – a security corridor that runs between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.

AMERICAN KILLED IN WEST BANK, STATE DEPARTMENT SAYS

"Hol[d] the Philadelphi corridor, because that possesses Hamas, that prevents them from rearming," Netanhyu told Fox and Friends’ Brian Kilmeade. "It prevents Gaza from becoming this Iranian terror enclave again, which can threaten our existence.

"But it's also the way to prevent them from smuggling hostages . . . into Egypt, into the Sinai, where they could disappear," he added. "Then they'll end up in Iran or in Yemen, and they're lost forever."

The prime minster’s comments echoed a report by The Jewish Chronicle that said Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar was hashing out a secret