A narrow corridor in Gaza has become an obstacle to a ceasefire

Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, claims the corridor is the main smuggling route through which Hamas’s Iranian benefactors supplied the weapons that enabled the group to launch the devastating attacks on Israel on October 7th 2023. He insists that it is critical for Israel to maintain a military presence there. If the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) withdrew from Philadelphi, Mr Netanyahu claims, Hamas would be able to secure the resources to carry out “another October 7th and another”. On August 29th the Israeli cabinet passed a decision to keep troops in the corridor indefinitely (only Yoav Gallant, the defence minister, voted against it). That may scupper any chance of reaching a deal to secure the release of 101 Israeli hostages still held in Gaza.