White House spokesman John Kirby announced that “Israel will begin to implement four-hour pauses in areas of northern Gaza.” Starting today, the four-hour pauses in fighting will be announced with three hours’ notice, allowing civilians in Gaza to flee through humanitarian corridors. During a Monday call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Joe Biden requested the daily humanitarian pauses to allow Gaza civilians to flee, along with a three-day pause in order to negotiate the release of an estimated 239 hostages, with 10 Americans among those being held.
The Israeli agreement to implement humanitarian pauses comes as the UN and other countries continue to request a formal ceasefire. Netanyahu’s office has stated that there will be no ceasefire without the release of hostages, and Israel will continue to conduct its military operation to remove Hamas from Gaza.
