The impending potential deal with Hamas may include the government agreeing to an IDF withdrawal to virtually the same Gaza security perimeter that Israel held in January, sources have acknowledged to The Jerusalem Post.
In January, the IDF withdrew from all deeper portions of Gaza it had been in, in Gaza City, Khan Yunis, Rafah, and central Gaza to a security perimeter of around 700-1,100 meters around the Israel-Gaza border.
The IDF withdrawal being discussed now could leave the IDF in almost the same place, with a perimeter of around 1,100-1,200 meters.
However, since Israel renewed hostilities with Hamas in March, the IDF had taken control of 75% of Gaza.
While top Israeli officials had sent mixed messages on whether the IDF would hold onto the new Morag Corridor splitting Khan Yunis from Rafah in southern Gaza, many top Israeli officials' statements had indicated that the IDF would hold onto a larger slice of a security perimeter in any additional hostage and ceasefire deal.
All of this was part of the threat and leverage that Israel had employed to try to get Hamas to agree to a deal at an earlier date and to keep it under pressure to eventually hand back all of the remaining Israeli hostages that it is holding on to.
Controlling the Philadelphi Corridor
In fact, even discussions about a ceasefire and hostage deal back in summer 2024 included some similar terms, though Israel did achieve keeping control of the Philadelphi Corridor bordering with Egypt, which Hamas had refused in summer 2024.