Israel-Gaza updates: IDF to begin daily 'tactical pause' along Gaza aid route
Military action will be paused on the route from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., Israel said.
As the Israel-Hamas war continues, negotiations are apparently stalled to secure the release of hostages taken by the terrorist organization, and Israeli forces continue to launch incursions in the southern Gazan town of Rafah ahead of a possible large-scale invasion.
Latest headlines:
- Biden cites pain of Muslims in Gaza in Eid al-Adha holiday statement
- IDF to begin daily 'tactical pause' along Gaza aid route
- Netanyahu reacts to death of 8 soldiers, says Israel is ready for additional challenges
- 50,000 children require malnutrition treatment in Gaza: UN
- 8 IDF soldiers killed in southern Gaza 'incident'
Netanyahu not briefed before 'tactical pause' announcement, Israeli official tells ABC News
When Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu heard the reports on Sunday about a daily "tactical pause" along an aid route, he contacted his military secretary and made it clear that this was unacceptable to him, an Israeli official told ABC News.
After an inquiry, the prime minister was informed that there was no change in Isreal Defense Forces policy and that the fighting in Rafah would continue as planned, the official said.
IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari released a statement in Hebrew shortly after announcement saying the pause will affect a single aid route.
"There is no cessation of fighting in the southern Gaza Strip, and the fighting in Rafah continues," Hagari said. "Also, there is no change in the introduction of goods into the Gaza Strip."
-ABC News Jordana Miller, Victoria Beaule and Kevin Shalvey
IDF to begin daily 'tactical pause' along Gaza aid route
Israel will institute a daily "tactical pause" on military activity on an aid route into Gaza in an effort to increase the volume of humanitarian resources flowing into the strip, Israel Defense Forces officials said on Sunday.
The pause is planned to go into effect from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m. every day until further notice, the military said on social media.
It will be put in place "along the road that leads from the Kerem Shalom Crossing to the Salah al-Din Road and then further north," the military said.
The "local, tactical pause" comes after discussions with United Nations officials and international organizations, the military said.
-ABC News' Kevin Shalvey
Netanyahu reacts to death of 8 soldiers, says Israel is ready for additional challenges
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has made his first public statement regarding the death of eight Israeli soldiers in southern Gaza, mourning their deaths.
"Citizens of Israel, today we paid a heart-rending price in our just war in defense of our homeland. With deep sorrow, and in heavy mourning, I bow my head together with all citizens of Israel and weep over the fall of our heroic fighters: Deputy company commander in an engineering battalion, Capt. Wassem Mahmoud and additional heroic soldiers whose names have yet to be released," Netanyahu said in a statement Saturday.
Netanyahu said Iran's "axis of evil" will continue trying to "destroy us if we do not stop it."
"Despite the heavy and unsettling price, we must cling to the goals of the war: The destruction of Hamas's military and governing capabilities, the return of all of our hostages, making certain that Gaza will never again constitute a threat to Israel and the return of our residents securely to their homes in both the north and the south," Netanyahu said.
"We are in the midst of a very difficult war. The war is being conducted on several fronts, including the international front. We are ready for many additional challenges. It is at this time that we must show our people's strength of spirit, thanks to which we have overcome all of our enemies," Netanyahu said.
50,000 children require malnutrition treatment in Gaza: UN
After repeated warnings from the World Food Programme, UNICEF and the World Health Organization about an imminent famine in Gaza, over 50,000 children in Gaza now require treatment for malnutrition, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East released said in a statement Saturday.
"With continued restrictions to humanitarian access, people in #Gaza continue to face desperate levels of hunger. Over 50,000 children require treatment for acute malnutrition UNRWA teams work tirelessly to reach families with aid but the situation is catastrophic," the UNRWA said in a statement on X.
Israel’s actions during hostage rescue may amount to war crimes, UN agency says
United Nation human rights officials said they were "profoundly shocked" by the Israeli operation that freed four hostages in central Gaza over the weekend, adding that actions by both Israel and Hamas "may amount to war crimes."
"The manner in which the raid was conducted in such a densely populated area seriously calls into question whether the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution -- as set out under the laws of war -- were respected by the Israeli forces," the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, or OHCHR, said in a statement on Tuesday.
The rescue operation in a refugee camp in Nuseirat killed as many as 274 people, the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry said Monday. Hundreds of others were injured, the ministry said. Many of those injured and killed were Palestinian civilians, OHCHR said on Tuesday.
But OHCHR also said it was "deeply distressed" about the way the militant groups continue to hold hostages, "most of them civilians, which is prohibited by international law."
By holding those hostages in densely populated areas, Hamas militants are putting civilians and the hostages at risk, the agency said.
"All these actions, by both parties, may amount to war crimes," OHCHR said.
-ABC News' Joe Simonetti and Kevin Shalvey