US: Israel Agrees to a Daily 'Four-Hour' Halt in Fighting in Northern Gaza

The White House announced that Israel has agreed to halt its military operations in northern Gaza for four hours each day starting Thursday. According to Reuters, John Kirby, spokesperson for the National Security Council, described these pauses as significant steps, allowing people to escape the fighting through two humanitarian corridors. He also mentioned that these pauses could be used to free hostages held by Palestinian groups. Moments later, President Joe Biden told reporters that he is working towards a longer ceasefire in Gaza to facilitate the exit of hostages taken by Hamas militants. Hamas, which is listed as a terrorist organization by several countries including the US, killed around 1,400 people, mostly civilians, in its October 7 attack on Israel and took about 240 hostages. The Hamas attack, supported by the Islamic Republic, led to Israel's aggression against Gaza. Israel claims it aims to eliminate Hamas's presence in Gaza, which uses civilians as 'human shields.' In response to a question about whether he was upset with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden said, 'This (the pauses in fighting) has taken a little longer than I expected.' A political advisor to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, named Taher al-Nounou, stated on Thursday that unspecified negotiations are ongoing, and no agreement has yet been reached with Israel. The Israeli army announced that there would be no complete ceasefire, only tactical and local pauses for humanitarian aid. An 'unknown' drone attacked the city of Eilat in southern Israel. This follows the US response to attacks by Iranian proxy forces; US fighter jets targeted facilities linked to the IRGC in Syria.