CAIRO, September 3. /TASS/. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent statement claiming that Israel must keep control over the Philadelphi Corridor (the border area between Egypt and the Gaza Strip) throw a wrench in getting a deal done on a ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said.

"Egypt does not accept Israeli Prime Minister’s recent remarks, because they prevent the achievement of an agreement on a ceasefire [in Gaza] and the exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners, and also jeopardize all mediation efforts by Egypt, Qatar and the United States," the foreign ministry said.

The foreign ministry underscored that Cairo denies "all allegations made against it by Israel" regarding the alleged smuggling of weapons from Egypt to Gaza. Despite Netanyahu’s claims, Egypt also plans to continue "playing the role of a peace mediator in the region in a way that would lead to upholding peace and security in the Middle East."

One day earlier, Netanyahu claimed during a press conference that Israel does not intend to withdraw its forces from the Philadelphi Corridor, because keeping control over it is crucial to defeating the Hamas movement. Netanyahu spent most of his time talking about how important the corridor is. The Prime Minister opined that keeping control over it would precipitate a hostage deal with Hamas; addressing the naysayers, he claimed that, if the Israeli forces withdraw from the corridor, they would not be able to return there due to strong international pressure.