Palestinian families fleeing Gaza City and other parts of northern Gaza towards the southern areas, walk along a highway on November 9, 2023. (Photo by Mahmud Hams / AFP)
Update: Nov 9 (18:55 GMT) - 9:55pm Doha time
Here’s what we know about 4-hour ‘pauses’
• The White House said Israel has agreed to 4-hour pauses in the fighting in Gaza, with White House national security spokesperson John Kirby saying the pauses would allow people to flee from the north to south along two humanitarian corridors.
• He said Israel would announce the pauses three hours ahead of time.
• Israel quickly moved to say the pauses did no represent a ceasefire; Military spokesman Richard Hecht called them “tactical, local pauses for humanitarian aid”, while Defence Minister Yoav Gallant described them as “localised, pinpoint measures”.
• Israel also sought to frame the breaks in fighting as not new, saying they had been conducting them for the last few days still US officials hailed the pauses as a “first step”.
• President Joe Biden told reporters he was still pushing for longer pauses in Gaza to get captives released; The update came as the US has been reportedly negotiating, to no avail, a three day pause in fighting.
• Humanitarian groups have said the 4-hour pauses are inadequate, and have repeated calls for a wider ceasefire and for more aid to be able to access the bombarded enclave.
• A spokesman for UN Chief Antonio Guterres said any humanitarian pauses should be done in coordination with the body to be most effective; They also must be agreed to by all parties in the conflict, he said.
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Israel has agreed to begin daily four-hour pauses in fighting in northern Gaza to allow people to flee hostilities, the White House has announced, in what it called a step in the right direction.
US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Israel had committed to announcing each four-hour window at least three hours in advance.
“We’ve 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,” Kirby said.
US President Joe Biden told reporters that he had asked Israel for a “pause longer than three days” during negotiations over the release of some captives being held by Palestinian group Hamas, but he ruled out the chances of a general ceasefire.
Biden had asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to institute the daily pauses during a call on Monday.
Biden, when asked if he was frustrated by Netanyahu over the delays in instituting humanitarian pauses, said, “It’s taken a little longer than I hoped.”
