Israel has agreed to set up daily “pauses” in the north of the Gaza Strip from Thursday, the White House announced, even though Joe Biden judged that there was “no possibility” of a ceasefire.
Israel “will begin taking four-hour breaks every day in certain areas of the northern Gaza Strip, which will be announced three hours in advance,” said John Kirby, spokesman for the National Security Council of the Gaza Strip. White House.
“The Israelis told us that there would be no military operations in these areas for the duration of the pause (and) that this device was starting today,” Thursday, he added.
Asked by the press about the significance of this announcement, a spokesperson for the Israeli army replied: “this is not a change”.
“These are local tactical pauses for humanitarian aid, which are limited in time and space,” added Richard Hecht, without further details.
Since Sunday, a secure “evacuation corridor”, in the words of the Israeli army, has been organized several hours a day in Gaza to allow the departure of civilians from the north to the south of the territory.
According to the Israeli army, more than 50,000 people followed this route again on Thursday – a figure almost identical to the day before – to leave the north of the Gaza Strip where military clashes with the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas are currently concentrated.
During this interval, however, the Hamas Ministry of Health in Gaza reported deaths and injuries in Israeli strikes on these areas.
Still regarding the pauses mentioned by the White House, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant commented Thursday evening: “we will not stop the fire as long as there are hostages in Gaza.”
Joe Biden is pressuring Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for humanitarian pauses to allow Palestinian civilians to flee fighting since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas.
The Democratic president thus assured that he had pleaded with Mr. Netanyahu during a call for “a break longer than three days”.
Ground fighting, accompanied by bombings, is now raging in northern Gaza, including in the heart of Gaza City, between the Israeli army and Hamas.
Joe Biden, however, estimated that there was “no possibility” of a ceasefire in Gaza, speaking to journalists before his departure for Illinois (north).
Gaza has been under siege since the attack of unprecedented violence launched in Israel on October 7 by Hamas, which left more than 1,400 dead, mostly civilians.
Israel’s strikes have left more than 10,000 dead, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas health ministry.