Netanyahu's excuse to stall Gaza ceasefire is a scam, Israeli politician says

Ofer Cassif, who was almost expelled from the Knesset for his support of the ICJ case on Gaza, says Salah Al Din border strip is political distraction

Protesters demanding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accept a ceasefire deal rally in Tel Aviv on September 4. Bloomberg

Live updates: Follow the latest on Israel-Gaza

A prominent Israeli politician has denounced Benjamin Netanyahu's insistence on keeping troops in Gaza's border strip with Egypt, calling the move "a scam" and saying the Israeli Prime Minister is using the issue to sacrifice Israeli and Palestinian civilians for political reasons.

"Philadelphi is a scam. It's fake. Netanyahu never mentioned it before," Hadash member Ofer Cassif told The National, using the Israeli name for the Salah Al Din corridor. "It's lies upon lies – all for political survival."

Mr Cassif has been one of the most vocal Israeli critics of the war and Israel's occupation of Palestine. He almost lost his parliamentary seat as a result, surviving a February vote against him after he signed a petition supporting South Africa's genocide case at the International Court of Justice.

"I said it months ago – had the government loved the Israelis more than they hated the Palestinians, the hostages would have been home ages ago," he said. "Unfortunately, that is not the case. The government doesn't care about the well-being or life of anyone. Netanyahu, time and time again, has foiled any possibility of a deal to release the hostages on purpose."

Crowds descended once again on Tel Aviv and Jerusalem on Thursday, carrying mock coffins to represent the six hostages found dead in a Rafah tunnel on Saturday. Three of them were reportedly on a list of hostages to be released in a July ceasefire deal.

"If Netanyahu continues as planned, more hostages will be killed," Gil Dickman, whose cousin Carmel Gat was killed in Gaza, told crowds in Tel Aviv. Roni Adar, whose cousin's body is being held in the enclave, said: "Bibi [Mr Netanyahu] – there's only one way to save the hostages, and that's to sign a deal."

Mr Netanyahu gave two press conferences this week to defend his stance on keeping troops in the Salah Al Din corridor, which he claims is vital to Hamas weapons supplies. The area could also be used to transfer hostages to Iran and Yemen through Egypt.

While the White House has said a ceasefire deal must include an Israeli withdrawal from the corridor, US officials say Hamas remains the "main obstacle" to a ceasefire in Gaza, where almost 41,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began in October last year. But Hamas has said it is committed to the principles of the ceasefire proposal.

Regardless of the strategic advantages of the border strip, many Israelis, particularly hostage families, have called on Mr Netanyahu to withdraw from the corridor to make a deal happen – with the mother of hostage Almog Sarusi saying he was "sacrificed for Philadelphi and Rafah".

While Mr Netanyahu insists the corridor is necessary to prevent Hamas from rearming and repeating the October 7 attack on Israel, critics maintain that he is prolonging the war to protest his political career. He faced corruption charges and massive protests against planned judicial reforms before the war began.

Netanyahu 'doesn't care'

Speaking to the press on Monday, the grandson of elderly hostage Oded Lifshitz said he hoped Mr Netanyahu would withdraw troops from the corridor and sign a ceasefire deal soon.

"Stop losing the time for our hostages," Daniel Lifshitz said, hours before a general strike was announced by Israel's largest trade union to push for a deal. "We will do everything to make pressure inside Israel, that Israel will do everything to take the deal. I hope they will change the decision about the Philadelphi corridor."

Mr Cassif, who met this week with the parents of hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin, among the six recovered from Gaza, said: "[Mr Netanyahu] doesn't care about the lives of the hostages, he doesn't care about the lives of the soldiers, he doesn't care about the thousands and thousands of people who have been evacuated from their homes in the north of Israel.

"The government has destroyed Gaza to ashes and sacrificed the lives of hostages and soldiers on the altar of their own political survival.

"Hersh and the others – all of them, and many before – could have been home months ago, but the government didn’t do anything. They have foiled any chance to release them on purpose. I’ve brought this up in the Knesset plenum before, but I didn’t have enough time – only three to five minutes – to bring up all the incidences where he has foiled a deal."

Mr Cassif accused Mr Netanyahu of using Israeli soldiers as "cannon fodder" and said more international pressure needed to be put on the Israeli cabinet to secure a deal.

"None of these things could have happened without the active support of the US and other European countries. Biden and his cabinet have been criticising Netanyahu over the deal, but they keep arming Israel and veto [UN] Security Council decisions to keep the war," he said.

"The US bears a lot of responsibility for the continuing massacre, and the fate of the hostages. They're not supporting Israel, they're supporting the government of Israel. You have to distinguish the two."