An Israeli military presence in the Philadelphi corridor is crucial to maintain security in the Jewish state, Israel's deputy ambassador to the United States told Newsmax, Wednesday.
Eliav Benjamin said on "The Record With Greta Van Susteren," "Yes, we have to have presence on the ground because that border between Israel, between the Sinai in Egypt and Gaza, has been the place where Gazans have received, and Hamas has received, and smuggled in their arms, their people, the ammunition and everything else."
The nearly nine-mile strip of land in southern Gaza bordering Egypt has become a sticking point in cease-fire talks between Israel and Hamas. It includes the Rafah border crossing, which lets food and supplies into Gaza. However, Israel says Hamas is using the area to smuggle weapons and people.
Benjamin said, ideally, the world would put pressure on Hamas and Iran, which backs the terrorist group, to come to a deal, rather than laying the blame for the war on Israel.
"Anybody who's out there thinking to equate Israel to a terrorist organization has got to be out of their mind. [Hamas] is a terrorist organization, which, by the way, is not just against Israel. It's against the U.S. It's against the entire Western world," he said.
He warned, "And if we don't take Hamas out and don't take out their capabilities, today, it's in Israel, and tomorrow it's somewhere else."
He reiterated that the pressure should be on Hamas "to get them on their knees and to come to a deal, to come to the table and release the 101 hostages still kept and held by them."
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Kate McManus ✉
Kate McManus is a New Jersey-based Newsmax writer who's spent more than two decades as a journalist.
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