Gaza, 9 November 2023 (WAI): According to the White House, Israel agreed to stop operations in the northern Gaza Strip for four hours every day starting on Thursday.
This is the first indication of a break in combat that has left hundreds of people dead and raised concerns about a wider confrontation.
John Kirby, spokesman for national security at the White House, stated that the pauses were significant initial moves that would allow people to escape along two humanitarian corridors.
“We have been assured by the Israelis that there will not be any military operations carried out in these areas for the pause and that the exercise is starting today,” Kirby stated.
The negotiations between US and Israeli officials in recent days, including conversations between US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, gave rise to the pauses, which would be made public three hours in advance, Kirby continued.
Earlier, as the situation for civilians in the beleaguered Palestinian enclave deteriorated, Israeli soldiers battled Hamas rebels amid destroyed structures in the northern Gaza Strip, edging closer to two large hospitals.
After Israel ordered them to leave, thousands more Palestinians were reportedly making their way from the beleaguered north to the south over a treacherous frontline trail covered in dead, according to those who were traveling there.
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Israel claims that the facilities are home to Hamas command centers.
However, many people are still in the north, crammed inside the Al Shifa and Al-Quds Hospitals, while nearby ground combat rages and further Israeli airstrikes fall from the sky.
Khaled Abu Issa, accompanying his family across the border into the south at Wadi Gaza, claimed, “We saw decomposed bodies, people from civilian cars, civilians like us, not military cars or resistance men.”
A further resident, who wished to remain anonymous, reported that he had crossed paths with his spouse and six kids.
“You have to hold your ID card in our hands and raise it as you go past the Israeli tanks and then walk several more kilometers searching for a lift,” he stated.
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