The White House says Israel has agreed to daily four-hour humanitarian breaks in its attack on Hamas in northern Gaza to get hostages out.
National Security spokesman John Kirby confirmed the breaks will be announced three hours in advance and will begin today.
The move was announced as President Joe Biden said he had dim hopes for a long-term ceasefire in Gaza and that Israeli forces were engaged in a brutal street war with Hamas.
Biden also warned that he was prepared to order more airstrikes in the Middle East in retaliation for attacks on US forces.
The president said he sent two F-15s to attack Iranian Revolutionary Guard weapons depots in Syria because “they hit us.”
When asked about the “chances” of a ceasefire before boarding Air Force One for a trip to Illinois, he said, “None.” No possibility.’
White House says Israel has agreed to four-hour daily humanitarian pauses in its attack on Hamas in northern Gaza to get hostages out
He added that the US remains “optimistic” and that all hostages captured during the October 7 terrorist attack will be released.
The Biden administration says it has secured a second route for civilians to flee the fighting.
Biden had asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to impose the daily breaks during a Monday call.
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said the first 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.
Kirby said Israel has also agreed to open a second corridor for civilians to flee northern Gaza – along the territory’s coastal highway – in addition to the first corridor along the main north-south highway.
The move was announced as President Joe Biden said he had dim hopes for a long-term ceasefire in Gaza
Israeli soldiers walk through rubble amid the ongoing ground invasion against Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip, November 8, 2023
On Thursday, Israeli military officials claimed their forces had toppled one of the Palestinian militants’ “strongholds” after a grueling 10-hour battle.
Hamas fighters, armed with rocket-propelled grenade launchers and assault rifles, fired on Israeli soldiers, backed by armored vehicles, in the ruins of the besieged area in the north.
Broken palm trees, mangled road signs and twisted lampposts marked the remains of what was once the main road north of Gaza, as Israeli tanks and APCs moved south to enter Gaza City.
Meanwhile, an IDF unit claimed to have discovered a Hamas weapons factory next to a child’s bedroom in the city’s Sheikh Radwan neighborhood.
Images shared on the IDF’s official social media accounts showed heavily armed Israeli troops standing in a room with several small beds and pink wallpaper covered in rubble. Drone parts and missiles were seen in an adjacent room as soldiers combed the site.
Israeli soldiers inspect the entrance to what they believe is a tunnel used by militants from the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas
Lt. Col. Ido stands in a damaged bedroom, which he claims is above a workshop used for weapons production in a residential building amid the ongoing ground invasion against the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip
Israeli flags can now be seen in northern Gaza, where there is little sign of human presence amid the destruction, with hundreds of thousands of residents fleeing the dire humanitarian situation.
The total destruction is the result of more than a month of war sparked by the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel, when gunmen from the Islamist group crossed the Gaza border into Israel and, according to Israeli officials, killed 1,400 people and about seized 240 hostages. the worst attack in the country’s history.
Israel vowed to destroy Hamas and retaliated with an aerial bombardment and a ground offensive. More than 10,500 people, including many children, have been killed in the past 32 days of fighting in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip, according to the Health Ministry.
The Israeli army said its forces had secured a Hamas “military stronghold” in the western Jabalia area over the past day, adding that troops had “finished securing the compound after 10 hours of fighting.”