Israel agrees to pauses in Gaza onslaught for aid, hostages

In response to mounting international pressure, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said his country would take into account “tactical little pauses” in the fighting in Gaza to allow aid to enter or hostages to escape. However, he once again rejected calls for a general ceasefire. In an interview with US television, Netanyahu, whose nation has vowed to overthrow the Hamas rulers in Gaza, stated that Israel would require security oversight of the Palestinian enclave for a “indefinite period” following the war. When questioned about the possibility of humanitarian breaks in hostilities—a notion that is backed by the United States, Israel’s principal ally—Netanyahu claimed that a broad cease-fire would impede his nation’s war effort. “As far as tactical little pauses - an hour here, an hour there - we’ve had them before. I suppose we’ll check the circumstances in order to enable goods, humanitarian goods to come in, or our hostages, individual hostages, to leave,” Netanyahu told ABC News on Monday. “But I don’t think there’s going to be a general ceasefire.” The militants of Hamas, who rule Gaza, and Israel have both rejected growing international calls for a ceasefire. Israel claims that the release of hostages that Hamas took during its October 7 rampage in southern Israel ought to come first. While Gaza is being attacked, Hamas claims it will not give them up or cease fighting. Following the assault in which Hamas killed 1,400 Israelis and took over 240 hostages, Israel has launched a ground invasion, imposed a siege on Gaza, and attacked the region from the air, raising concerns about the humanitarian situation in the enclave throughout the world. In the Hamas-controlled enclave, the health ministry reported that at least 10,022 Palestinians, including 4,104 children, had died since then. International organisations have stated that hospitals are unable to handle the injured. “We need an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. It’s been 30 days. Enough is enough. This must stop now,” said a statement from the heads of several United Nations bodies on Monday, including U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, World Health Organization head Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and U.N. aid chief Martin Griffiths. Washington has been working hard to set up intervals in the fighting to let humanitarian supplies in. However, it has contended, along with Israel, that Hamas would use a complete ceasefire as an opportunity to regroup. In a phone conversation with Netanyahu on Monday, U.S. President Joe Biden spoke about these pauses and potential hostage releases, reaffirming his support for Israel while highlighting the need for it to safeguard civilians, according to the White House. On Monday, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a dire warning, citing Gaza as a “graveyard for children” and urging an immediate end to hostilities there. “The Israel Defence Forces’ ground operations and the ongoing bombardment are causing damage to civilians, hospitals, refugee camps, mosques, churches, and United Nations buildings, including shelters. Nobody is safe “Reporters were told by Guterres. “At the same time, Hamas and other militants use civilians as human shields and continue to launch rockets indiscriminately towards Israel,” he stated. On Monday, the United Nations Security Council convened in private. After failing to act four times in two weeks, the fifteen-member body is still working to come to a resolution. According to diplomats, a major challenge is deciding whether to demand a humanitarian pause, a ceasefire, or an end to hostilities. According to a source familiar with the plans, the administration of President Joe Biden has notified Congress that it intends to transfer $320 million worth of precision bombs to Israel. This information was provided on Monday. Israel announced on Monday that it was hitting Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in retaliation for a flurry of rockets fired at Israeli cities in the north. In an hour, the Israeli military claimed to have detected about thirty launches from Lebanon. Since the start of the Hamas-Israel conflict on October 7, Hezbollah, which is supported by Iran, and Israeli forces have been engaging in gunfire across the Lebanese-Israeli frontier. This is the worst fighting that has occurred there since Hezbollah and Israel fought a war in 2006. (With agency inputs)