IDF spokesman says no shift in Gaza humanitarian pause policy, playing down US claim

An IDF spokesperson confirms that the military only plans “tactical, local pauses for humanitarian aid, which are limited in time and area,” in response to a White House spokesperson’s claim that Israel will engage in daily, four-hour humanitarian pauses throughout northern Gaza.

Lt. Col. Richard Hecht tells reporters that the planned pauses are continuations of Israel’s humanitarian corridor policy — four-hour windows to allow civilians to travel from northern to southern Gaza, which is relatively safer and is receiving humanitarian aid.

“We’re seeing people move, tens of thousands, even though there is pressure from Hamas not to let them go,” Hecht says, adding that the IDF plans to “expand it” and “do it more.”

The policy is “not a shift,” Hecht clarifies. It is a “tactical pause for the movement from a specific area [to the] south.”