JERUSALEM

A cease-fire in the Gaza Strip is contingent on the release of the hostages held by Hamas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement on Thursday.

The statement was issued despite a Thursday announcement by the White House saying that Israel has agreed to institute four-hour daily humanitarian pauses in northern Gaza.

Announcements will be made by Israel three hours before the pauses are set to take effect, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.

However, a statement by Netanyahu said: “The fighting in Gaza continues and there will be no cease-fire without the release of our abductees.”

“Israel is providing safe corridors for civilians stretching from the north to the south of the Gaza Strip, through which 50,000 Gazan citizens passed just yesterday," the statement added.

Netanyahu also called on the residents of the Gaza Strip to head south, repeating something he said weeks ago, although Israeli attacks on south Gaza have continued.

Earlier on Thursday, the Israeli army said that there is "no ceasefire in Gaza, but rather limited tactical and local pauses."

Despite international calls and appeals for a humanitarian cease-fire, the Israeli government continues to resist an arrangement, though the White House said Thursday that Israel had agreed to four-hour daily humanitarian pauses in northern Gaza.

Israel has been escalating its military actions, including airstrikes, ground operations, and naval bombardments, particularly in the northern region of the Gaza Strip, where it is advancing with tanks.

According to the Health Ministry in Gaza, more than 10,000 civilians have been killed, including over 4,400 children, since Oct. 7 when the conflict began following a cross-border attack by Hamas in Israel that killed over 1,400 people.

*Writing by Ziad Aslan in Ankara