1 in 1 families flee Gaza City amid fighting between Israel and Hamas Photo: MAHMUD HAMS / AFP Families flee Gaza City amid fighting between Israel and Hamas Photo: MAHMUD HAMS / AFP
Israel agreed to a fourhour “military” pause in the northern Gaza Strip to allow people to flee hostilities, the White House said on Thursday (8).
“The Israelis have informed us that there will be no military operations in these areas during the pause and that this process begins today,” White House spokesman John Kirby said.
The breaks, announced three hours in advance, arose from discussions between U.S. and Israeli officials in recent days, including conversations U.S. President Joe Biden had with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Kirby added.
Kirby called the news a “step in the right direction.”
“We believe these are important first steps here and we obviously want them to continue for as long as they are needed,” he added.
Israel stressed that the breaks do not mean the end of the conflict with Hamas.
“There is no ceasefire, I repeat, there is no ceasefire. What we are doing in this fourhour window is tactical and local humanitarian assistance pauses,” said Army spokesman Lt. Col. Richard Hecht.
Also according to the White House, Biden is pushing Netanyahu for humanitarian pauses and called for “a pause of more than three days” in the conflict.
In Doha, the heads of the CIA and Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency met with Qatar’s prime minister to discuss a possible hostage deal, a U.S. official told Portal on condition of anonymity. Qatar has acted as an intermediary for Hamas in the past.
CIA Director Bill Burns and Mossad chief David Barnea are in Doha “for trilateral negotiations with the Qataris” and are working on “the details of a possible humanitarian pause that would include the release of the hostages and the delivery of more aid to Gaza.” a source told AFP on condition of anonymity. “In recent days, negotiations have progressed towards an agreement.”
Officials from some 80 countries and organizations met in Paris to coordinate humanitarian assistance to Gaza and find ways to help injured civilians escape the siege, which is now in its second month.
“Without a ceasefire, the lifting of the siege and the indiscriminate bombings and wars, the bleeding of lives will continue,” Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said ahead of the White House announcement.
Israel and its main backer, the United States, say a full ceasefire would benefit Hamas.