DOHA (Reuters) – The United States on Tuesday disputed a report that cited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as saying he might have convinced U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Israel should keep troops on a border strip between Gaza and Egypt.
According to an X post by an Axios journalist, Netanyahu told a gathering that Israel would not withdraw forces from the Philadelphi corridor between Gaza and Egypt as it was a strategic military asset and he told Blinken this during a meeting in Israel on Monday.
Netanyahu said he might have managed to convince the top U.S. diplomat on the issue, Axios added.
“The only thing Secretary Blinken and the United States are convinced of is the need for getting a ceasefire proposal across the finish line,” a senior administration official told reporters en route to Doha.
“Maximalist statements like this are not constructive to getting a ceasefire deal across the finish line and they certainly risk the ability of implementing … working level, technical talks to be able to move forward,” the official said.
(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; editing by David Ljunggren and Cynthia Osterman)
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