Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has clashed with his country’s representatives in ceasefire talks in the Gaza Strip war over his insistence that Israeli troops not withdraw from the so-called Philadelphia Corridor in the southern Palestinian enclave, he said. source with knowledge of the conversations.

The Philadelphia Corridor, along the Gaza Strip’s border with Egypt, and the Nejarim Corridor, which runs through the enclave, are two of the main sticking points in the ceasefire negotiations.

Netanyahu has repeatedly insisted that he does not want Israel to lose control of the Philadelphia corridor because it wants to prevent Hamas from smuggling weapons and fighters across the Egyptian border.

At the same time, he has stressed that Israel should maintain checkpoints in the Nejarim corridor in order to prevent armed Hamas fighters from moving from the southern part of the Gaza Strip to the north.

The source indicated that Netanyahu has agreed to move a seat on the Philadelphia corridor by a few hundred meters, but insists on maintaining full control of the corridor. And this despite pressure from members of his negotiating team to make more concessions.

“The prime minister insists that this situation will continue, despite pressure from some members of the negotiating team” who are willing to see Israel withdraw from the Philadelphia corridor, the source explained.

Israel’s Channel 12 television reported this week that Netanyahu criticized the negotiating team led by David Barnea, head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, for being willing to make too many concessions.

More than 10 months after the start of the war in Gaza, the US is pressing Israel to end hostilities.

Netanyahu is also under heavy pressure from the families of some of the Israelis still being held by Hamas in Gaza to reach an agreement, with many of them strongly criticizing the Israeli prime minister for his inability to reach a truce deal. At the same time, his critics accuse him of obstructing the reaching of an agreement to serve his own political goals.

But with pressure from hard-line members of his cabinet to make no concessions high and polls showing his popularity rising somewhat from his pre-war ratings, Netanyahu has repeatedly said his goal is the complete victory over Hamas.