Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he would consider "small tactical pauses" in the fighting to allow for the delivery of humanitarian aid or the release of hostages from the Gaza Strip. At the same time, he again rejected calls for a complete ceasefire, ABC News reports.
Speaking about who should govern the territory of the Gaza Strip after the end of hostilities, Netanyahu said: "Israel will, for an indefinite period of time... have full responsibility for security, because we have seen what happens when we don't have that responsibility for security."
Netanyahu said that a general ceasefire would hamper his country's military efforts, but that a cessation of hostilities on humanitarian grounds would continue to be considered on a case-by-case basis.
"As for the tactical pauses - an hour here, an hour there - we have had them before. I believe we will check the circumstances to allow goods, humanitarian goods to get there or our hostages, individual hostages, to leave. But I don't think there will be a general ceasefire," Netanyahu said.
"I think it will hinder the military effort. It will hinder our efforts to free our hostages, because the only thing that works for these Hamas criminals is the military pressure that we are putting on them," the Israeli Prime Minister added.
Netanyahu said that there would be a pause in hostilities if Hamas agrees to release the hostages. "For this purpose, there will be a ceasefire," the Prime Minister said.
