Israel Agrees To Four-Hour Ceasefire Daily In Gaza

THE White House says Israel has agreed to put in place four-hour daily humanitarian ceasefire in its assault on Hamas in northern Gaza starting on Thursday, as the Biden administration said it has secured a second pathway for civilians to flee fighting.

President Joe Biden had asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to institute the daily ceasefire during a Monday call.

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that the first humanitarian ceasefire would be announced Thursday and that the Israelis had committed to announcing each four-hour window at least three hours in advance.

Israel, he said, also was opening a second corridor for civilians to flee the areas that are the current focus of its military campaign against Hamas, with a coastal road joining the territory’s main north-south highway.

Biden also told reporters that he had asked the Israelis for a “pause longer than three days” during negotiations over the release of some hostages held by Hamas, though he said there was “no possibility” of a general cease-fire.

Asked if he was frustrated by Netanyahu over the delays instituting humanitarian ceasefire, Biden said, “It’s taken a little longer than I hoped.”

Kirby told reporters Thursday that pauses could be useful to getting the remaining 239 hostages held by Hamas back to their families.

Eight Palestinians were killed Thursday during an Israeli army raid in Jenin, north of the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Authority Health Ministry announced.

Intense fighting continued in the early afternoon, according to an AFP journalist who witnessed the bombing, several large explosions and small arms fire.

Al Jazeera report that Israeli forces have been going from house to house in the city looking for armed fighters.

Video footage shared online shows thick black smoke rising above the city, a stronghold of armed groups in the West Bank, occupied since 1967 by Israel.