Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has vowed to maintain an Israeli military presence in a narrow strip of Gaza along the border with Egypt, one of the main sticking points in the talks over a cease-fire deal in the war. Mr. Netanyahu has called the area, known in Israel as the Philadelphi Corridor, a “lifeline” for Hamas’s smuggling operations.

Control of the corridor has emerged as a primary bone of contention in the cease-fire talks mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States. Hamas has said it will not accept any deal that does not require a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

Here’s a look at the importance of the border area:

What is the corridor?

It is land around 100 yards wide that runs roughly eight miles from Israel’s border to the Mediterranean. The new border, which divided the city of Rafah, was set up under the Egypt-Israel peace treaty of 1979. To the northeast is Gaza, while Egypt lies to the southwest.

Egyptian border guards have been policing the land under an agreement with Israel made in 2005 when Israeli forces withdrew from Gaza. The Israelis used the code name Philadelphi for the area, while Egyptian officials call it Salah Al Din.

Why does the Corridor matter to Israel?

Senior Israeli officials had set control of the strip as a military objective during the war in Gaza that began in October 2023. Hamas had dug tunnels beneath the strip — some wide enough for trucks, according to military experts — and used them to smuggle weapons and personnel into Gazan territory from Egypt.

Israel invaded southern Gaza in May and soon afterward said its troops were positioned along the entirety of the corridor.