US Says Israel Agreed to Four-Hour Daily ‘Pauses’ in Gaza

CIA chief William Burns met with Qatari officials to discuss a potential hostage deal with Hamas

The White House said Thursday that Israel had agreed to daily four-hour “pauses” in Gaza, while President Biden said there was still “no possibility” of a formal ceasefire.

The idea of the pauses is to allow civilians in north Gaza to flee to the south. The fighting and airstrikes are the heaviest in the north, but Israeli airstrikes have continued to hit south Gaza despite Israel telling civilians to flee there.

Later in the day, Israel’s military downplayed the pauses. “There is no ceasefire. I repeat, there’s no ceasefire,” said Israeli military spokesman Richard Hecht. “It is a tactical pause for the movement from a specific area [to the] south.”

Biden said he also asked Israel to agree to a three-day pause to facilitate Hamas releasing some hostages, but there’s no sign yet Prime Minister Netanyahu will agree to the proposal.

The New York Times reported that CIA Director William Burns met with Qatari officials in Doha on Thursday to discuss a potential hostage deal. One idea being discussed would involve Hamas releasing 10-15 hostages, including some Americans and other foreign nationals.

The Times report said that Hamas has asked for a three-day pause to release the small group of hostages. An earlier report from Axios about a similar proposal said Hamas would use the three-day pause to confirm the names of all the hostages it has and then deliver a list.

Israeli officials have maintained there will be no sort of ceasefire unless Hamas releases all of the hostages. The Biden administration has refused to use the term “ceasefire” when discussing the proposals, demonstrating that the US is only looking to have more control of the Israeli onslaught, not end it.

Author: Dave DeCamp

Dave DeCamp is the news editor of Antiwar.com, follow him on Twitter @decampdave.