Biden to raise Egypt-Gaza corridor in talks with Netanyahu, reports Axios via Reuters

(Reuters) – US President Joe Biden is expected to speak with Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday and focus on the Israeli leader's new request that Israel keep troops on the route between Egypt and Gaza, Axios reported, citing an independent source.

Biden wants Netanyahu to soften Israel's position on this issue, reports Axios.

In ceasefire talks in the 10-month-old war, Hamas wants a complete Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, including the so-called Philadelphia Corridor, a narrow 14.5-kilometer (nine-mile) stretch of coastline. the enclave's southern border with Egypt.

Israel wants to maintain control of the tunnel, which it captured in late May, after destroying dozens of tunnels under it that it says were used to smuggle weapons to groups in Gaza.