Live Updates: Mossad chief updates negotiators on Philadelphi demands as Hezbollah strikes Israel
Mossad Director David Barnea has spoken with cease-fire negotiators about Israel's demand to keep a military presence in the Philadelphi Corridor as rocket fire flared again at the Israel-Lebanon border.
Mossad chief David Barnea communicated to the American, Egyptian and Qatari mediators Israel’s demands about the Philadelphi Corridor, a strip of land in Gaza bordering Egypt.
Israel’s public broadcaster Kan reported on Wednesday that Barnea told the parties that Israel insists on preserving some military presence in the Philadelphi Corridor during the first phase of a potential deal for the release of hostages and a cease-fire.
Barnea reportedly also told mediators that Israel would be willing to withdraw from the Philadelphi Corridor in a second phase.
The report comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Monday that the Israeli military would indefinitely maintain a presence in the Philadelphi Corridor.
Meanwhile, 65 rockets were launched from Lebanon toward Israel on Wednesday morning. The projectiles hit a house in the border town of Kiryat Shmona and started several fires. The Israeli military spokesperson said that the country’s missile defense system intercepted several of the rockets, while several others fell in open areas. In response, the Israeli military attacked several Hezbollah targets in the south of Lebanon.
The incident Wednesday morning marks yet another exchange in a series of hostilities at the Lebanon-Israel border between Hezbollah and Israel over the past 10 months.