Israel agrees to four-hour pauses in Gaza fighting, White House says
- Biden says he had asked PM Netanyahu for the daily pauses, adding that it had ‘taken longer than he hoped’ for Israel to agree
- The US president had also asked for a longer pause of at least 3 days to allow for hostage release negotiations with Hamas
Israel has agreed to put in place four-hour daily humanitarian pauses in its assault on Hamas in northern Gaza starting on Thursday, the White House said, as US President Joe Biden pressed Israelis for a multi-day stoppage in the fighting in a bid to release hostages held by the militant group.
Biden said Thursday that there was “no possibility” of a formal ceasefire at the moment, and said it had “taken a little longer” than he hoped for Israel to agree to the humanitarian pauses.
Biden had asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to institute the daily pauses during a Monday call and said he had also asked the Israelis for a pause of at least three days to allow for negotiations over the release of some hostages held by Hamas.
“Yes,” Biden said, when asked whether he had asked Israel for a three-day pause. “I’ve asked for even a longer pause for some of them.”
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National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that the first daily humanitarian pause would be announced on Thursday and that the Israelis had committed to announcing each four-hour window at least three hours in advance.
