Israel has agreed to begin four-hour daily pauses in fighting in northern Gaza to allow people to flee hostilities, the White House announced, in what it called a step in the right direction.
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the first humanitarian pause would be announced on Thursday, adding that Israel had committed to announcing each four-hour window at least three hours in advance.
“The Israelis have told us that there will be no military operations in these areas for the duration of the pause and that process begins today,” Kirby said.
US President Joe Biden told reporters he had asked Israel for a “pause of more than three days” in negotiations over the release of some prisoners held by the Palestinian group Hamas, but he ruled out the possibility of a general ceasefire.
Kirby made it clear that there would be no ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, saying it would help the Palestinian group “legitimize what they did” on October 7, “and we will not We’re just not going to tolerate this right now.”
Biden had asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to institute daily breaks during a call Monday.
Asked if he was frustrated with Netanyahu over delays in instituting the humanitarian pauses, Biden responded: “It took a little longer than I hoped.”
“No ceasefire”
Meanwhile, Israel said it had not agreed to any ceasefire, but would continue to allow brief, localized pauses to let in humanitarian aid.
“There is no cease-fire, I repeat, there is no cease-fire. What we are doing, this four-hour window, is tactical, local pauses for humanitarian assistance,” said Israeli army spokesman Richard Hecht.
Taher al-Nono, political adviser to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, said Thursday that unspecified negotiations were continuing and that no agreement had been reached with Israel so far.
He did not provide further details in a statement posted on the group’s Telegram channel.
Reporting from Washington DC, Al Jazeera’s Kimberly Halkett said the pauses “will allow for the potential release of captives Hamas is currently holding…and the entry of medicine and food and the exit of those living there.” interior of Gaza and who have dual nationality. .
“The United States also said it aims to deliver 150 trucks of aid to Gaza daily,” she added.
At least 10,812 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. In Israel, the death toll over the same period stands at more than 1,400.
A spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said any humanitarian pause should be carried out in coordination with the United Nations to be as effective as possible.
Stéphane Dujarric added that “obviously, for this to be done safely for humanitarian purposes, it would have to be agreed with all parties to the conflict to be truly effective.”
“The break makes no sense”
Al Jazeera senior political analyst Marwan Bishara called the US announcement a diversion.
“There is a genocide going on in Gaza and we are talking about some kind of humanitarian pause, which makes absolutely no sense. (What) we should be focusing on is the ongoing genocide, the ongoing massacres, the ongoing expulsion, the ongoing ethnic cleansing, the massive killing of children,” Bishara said.
“This is what’s happening while Mr. Biden (is) and Mr. Netanyahu waste everyone’s time with a four-hour humanitarian pause.”
Bishara added that the speech highlighted the Biden administration’s inability – and unwillingness – to pressure the Israeli government to end the conflict.
“I think he doesn’t have the will and I think he doesn’t want to give the impression that in Washington there is daylight between the United States and Israel,” he said. -he declares. “And because this administration has largely and stupidly, in my opinion, locked itself behind Netanyahu, and is now struggling to distance itself without looking stupid. »
The US announcement falls far short of meeting Gaza’s needs, Abdel Hamid Siyam, a Middle East expert at Rutgers University, told Al Jazeera.
“Pauses are not a solution,” he said, adding that there needs to be a “ceasefire so that humanitarian aid can arrive without interruption, foreigners can leave the country and negotiations can take place.
“If it’s just a break to allow people to move from north to south, it hasn’t worked in the past and it won’t work in the future,” he said. “In four hours, people can’t come. They don’t have a car, they don’t have fuel. It will not work. »
“There is now increasing pressure on Israel to open up to a real ceasefire, a real truce of one, two or three days. I think it will happen in the next few days,” he said.
Negotiations on captives
Indirect talks were taking place in Qatar – which also played a role in the release of four captives by Hamas last month – on a wider release of hostages.
CIA Director William Burns was in Doha on Thursday to discuss efforts to secure the release of prisoners in Gaza, with the Qatari prime minister and the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, according to a US official.
Burns met with Mossad chief David Barnea and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, said the official, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive issues. Qatar is a frequent intermediary in international relations with Hamas.