Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded that Israel retain control of key Gaza territory along the border with Egypt as part of any accord to suspend the fighting with Hamas, AFP reports.

The condition conflicts with Hamas’s position that Israel must withdraw from all Gaza territory after a ceasefire.

Speaking after the return of Israeli negotiators from talks with mediators in Qatar, Netanyahu said Israel needed control to stop weapons reaching Hamas from Egypt — one of four conditions for a deal with the Palestinian group.

He did not say if the measure would be permanent. But it is the first time Israel has insisted on retaining control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt and the so-called Philadelphi corridor along the border.

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