Israel is expected to begin implementing \u20184-hour pauses\u2019 of military operations in areas of northern Gaza each day, beginning Thursday, the White House said.<\/p>\n
White House National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby said Israel will begin the implementation of the pauses on Thursday, and will give civilians three hours notice ahead of the pause.<\/p>\n
The announcement comes after President Biden asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to institute the daily pauses during a call on Monday in order to ensure humanitarian aid is able to pass through and to allow for civilians to take harbor or flee.<\/p>\n
\u2018We understand that Israel will begin to implement 4-hour pauses in areas of northern Gaza each day, with an announcement to be made 3 hours beforehand,\u2019 Kirby said Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u2018We have been told by the Israelis that there will be no military operations in these areas over the duration of the pause, and that this process is starting today,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n
Kirby also said Israel was opening a second corridor for civilians to flee the areas that are the current focus of its military campaign against Hamas.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected calls for a cease-fire in Gaza unless hostages are released by Hamas, but said during an interview this week that he would consider \u2018tactical little pauses.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
Kirby told reporters Thursday that pauses could be useful in \u2018getting all 239 hostages back with their families to include the less than 10 Americans that we know are being held. So if we can get all the hostages out, that\u2019s a nice finite goal.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u2018Humanitarian pauses can be useful in the transfer process,\u2019 he added.<\/p>\n
During an interview with ABC News on Monday, Netanyahu said Israel agreed that it needs to \u2018provide humanitarian assistance\u2019 \u2014 something he said Israel is doing and coordinating with the United States.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018We\u2019ll do whatever we can. We don\u2019t want to give Hamas the opportunity to endanger our soldiers. We saw that until we started the ground action, there was no pressure on them to release hostages,\u2019 he said. \u2018What we see if the minute we started the ground action, there is pressure.\u2019 \u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018The President himself has said that a cease-fire would be a surrender to Hamas, would be a victory for Hamas and you would no more have it than you would have a cease-fire after the al Qaeda bombings of the World Trade Center,\u2019 Netanyahu said during the interview. \u2018There will be no cease-fire, no general cease-fire, in Gaza without the release of our hostages.\u2019<\/p>\n
Netanyahu said, however, that \u2018as far as tactical, little pauses, an hour here, an hour there, we\u2019ve had them before. I suppose we\u2019ll check the circumstances in order to enable good, humanitarian goods to come in or our hostages, individual hostages to leave, but I don\u2019t think there\u2019s going to be a general cease-fire.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n
Netanyahu added that \u2018every civilian lost is a tragedy, every civilian life lost is a tragedy.\u2019<\/p>\n