The four-hour humanitarian pauses will begin on Thursday, according to the White House.
National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Israel will announce each humanitarian pause at least three hours in advance.
Kirby said the pauses could also help to secure the release of the some 240 hostages held by Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that conducted the Oct. 7 attack in Israel. The hostages include Americans.
“We believe these pauses are a step in the right direction, particularly to help ensure that civilians have an opportunity to reach safer areas away from the act of fighting,” Kirby said.
Israel will also open up a second corridor on the coast to allow Palestinians fleeing northern Gaza to head south.
President Biden has pushed for longer humanitarian pauses — as much as three days — but Israel appears resistant to the idea.
“It’s taking a little longer than I hoped,” Biden told reporters when asked if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was listening to him.
The war in Gaza has killed more than 10,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza, and the war is expected to get more intense as Israel fights in Gaza City, a Hamas stronghold.
Read the full coverage of the Israel-Hamas war at TheHill.com.
