Biden administration calls for multiple ‘pauses’ in Israel-Hamas conflict

ABC News:

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby on Thursday said that Israel agreed to a temporary pause in the fighting in order for two American hostages to be safely freed last month and said the U.S. would be working to secure more pauses — the first time the Biden administration has called for multiple pauses in an effort to allow aid in and help people leave Gaza.

“I mean, we’re really not just talking about, like, one pause. What we’re trying to do is explore the idea of as many pauses as might be necessary to continue to get aid [in], and to continue to work to get people out safely, including hostages,” Kirby said.

The administration has resisted calling for a general cease-fire in the conflict.

“The president already worked on one such pause when we were able to get those two Americans out. And that’s … what we’re kind of looking at,” Kirby added. “And just to remind when we’re talking about humanitarian pause, what we’re talking about are temporary, localized pauses in the fighting to meet a certain goal or goals, as I said, get aid in, get people out.”

Even while touting what he said was Israel’s agreement to a temporary pause, Kirby appeared less than certain about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s support for multiple pauses, saying that the U.S. is “certainly hoping that that kind of cooperation will continue.”