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Israel has agreed to establish daily four-hour pauses in fighting with Hamas in selected areas of northern Gaza to allow civilians to flee, the White House announced Thursday, capping days of pressure from President Biden as the death toll rises.
For several days, Israel has allowed people to evacuate northern Gaza for a four-hour period each day along a single corridor, passing through Israeli military lines on their way south. The White House said a second corridor for evacuations would be opened along a coastal highway and that daily breaks would be institutionalized to include at least three hours’ advance notice.
“The Israelis have told us that there will be no military operations in these areas for the duration of the pause and that this process begins today,” White House spokesman John F. Kirby told reporters in a conference call. “These are good steps in the right direction,” he added, saying the White House hoped the pauses would continue “as long as they are necessary.”
Kirby said the daily pauses would not only provide a greater opportunity for civilians to escape the fighting, but would also allow for the delivery of more humanitarian supplies and possibly facilitate the release of some of the more than 200 hostages held by Hamas, including a handful of Americans. He noted that 106 humanitarian aid trucks crossed into Gaza on Wednesday.
“We need to see more and we need to see more soon,” he said.
In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement that his country’s forces were allowing safe passage into southern Gaza, adding that 50,000 Gazans had taken that route on Wednesday alone. “The fighting continues and there will be no ceasefire without the release of our hostages,” the statement said, adding: “We once again ask the civilian population of Gaza to evacuate to the south.”
The announcement of daily pauses in two corridors came after days of efforts by Biden and his team to persuade Israel to do more to minimize civilian casualties. Biden asked Netanyahu during a call on Monday to stop his attack on Hamas. Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken pressed the case during a visit to the region, and other officials, including Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III and Jake Sullivan, the president’s national security advisers, pressed their counterparts.
“I’ve asked for a pause of more than three days,” Biden told reporters Thursday before a trip to Illinois. When asked if he was frustrated that Netanyahu took so long to reach an agreement, the president hinted at some impatience. “It took him a little longer than he expected,” he said. Regarding the fate of the hostages, he said: “We are still optimistic.”
But Biden has not joined calls from some in his party and around the world for a complete ceasefire, arguing that Israel has a legitimate interest in destroying Hamas after its Oct. 7 terrorist attack killed more than 1,400 people. He ruled out the possibility of a new ceasefire on Thursday, saying: “None. No chance.”
Kirby said a ceasefire would not be wise. “We still do not believe that a ceasefire is appropriate at this time,” he said, adding that “Hamas benefits from it.”
“Frankly, a ceasefire right now would effectively legitimize what they did on October 7, and we’re just not going to allow that right now,” Kirby said.
He made a point of expressing sympathy for Israel’s military challenge in confronting Hamas while avoiding civilian casualties.
“He is fighting an enemy that is embedded in the civilian population, using hospitals and civilian infrastructure in an effort to protect himself from accountability and put innocent Palestinian people at greater risk,” Kirby said. “At the same time, Israel has an obligation to fully comply with international law. And we believe these pauses are a step in the right direction, particularly to help ensure that civilians have the opportunity to reach safer areas away from the act of combat.”