— No military operations in areas where pauses will take place: White House
— Nine Palestinians martyred, 15 others injured in Jenin
WASHINGTON: Israel will begin four-hour pauses in northern Gaza starting on Thursday to allow people to flee hostilities, the White House said in what it called a step in the right direction.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said the pauses emerged out of discussions between US and Israeli officials in recent days, including talks US President Joe Biden had with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said Israel has informed the United States that there will be no military operations in areas where pauses will take place.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said Israel has informed the United States that there will be no military operations in areas where pauses will take place.
Israel will begin four-hour pauses in northern Gaza starting on Thursday to allow people to flee hostilities, he had announced.
“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 Thursday,” Kirby said.
NATO allies back humanitarian pauses in Gaza war: Stoltenberg
NATO allies support humanitarian pauses in the war between Israel and Hamas to allow aid to reach Gaza, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday.
International law must be respected and civilians be protected in the conflict, he told reporters in Berlin as he addressed the media before a meeting with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
“The war in Gaza must not turn into a major regional conflict. Iran and Hezbollah must stay out of this fight,” he added.
Nine Palestinians were killed and at least 15 others were injured by Israeli forces in a raid on Jenin city and refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said on Thursday.
Israel’s military said it was conducting counter-terrorism raids in Jenin, but gave no further details.
At least 174 Palestinians had been killed in the West Bank since the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian Health Ministry figures.
UN aid chief: Gaza conflict could spread across region like wildfire
The conflict in Gaza is a wildfire that could spread across the region, UN aid chief Martin Griffiths said on Thursday, adding that allowing the situation to continue in Gaza would be a “travesty”.
“The United Nations cannot be part of unilateral proposal to push Palestinians into so-called safe zones,” he also said, at the start of a humanitarian conference on Gaza in Paris.
Palestinians should govern Gaza once Israel ends its war against Hamas, the United States said on Wednesday, pushing back against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s idea that Israel would be responsible for security indefinitely.
Hamas gunmen from Gaza burst through the border to Israel on Oct 7 and killed 1,400 people, Israel says. Now a month later, Washington has begun discussing with Israeli and Arab leaders a future for the Gaza Strip without Hamas rule.
US says Palestinians should govern Gaza after war
While a plan has yet to emerge, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday outlined in the most comprehensive comments on the issue to date Washington’s red lines and expectations for the besieged coastal territory.
“No reoccupation of Gaza after the conflict ends. No attempt to blockade or besiege Gaza. No reduction in the territory of Gaza,” Blinken said at a press conference in Tokyo.
Blinken said there may be a need for “some transition period” at the end of the conflict, but that post-crisis governance in Gaza must include Palestinian voices.
“It must include Palestinian-led governance and Gaza unified with the West Bank under the Palestinian Authority.”
Israeli officials have since tried to clarify they do not intend to occupy Gaza after the war, but they have yet to articulate how they might ensure security without maintaining a military presence. Israel withdrew its forces from Gaza in 2005.
The Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, says Gaza, where Hamas has ruled since 2007, is an integral part of what it envisions for a future Palestinian state.
