Israeli military officials on Sunday announced that they were instituting a daily “tactical pause” of military activity along a route in the southern Gaza Strip so aid groups can deliver backlogs of humanitarian assistance to residents in the Palestinian enclave.
The pause will happen daily between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. along the road leading from the Kerem Shalom border crossing with Israel to the Salah a-Din road on the eastern outskirts of Rafah and then further north, Israel Defense Forces officials said in a statement.
It will increase the volume of humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians. Even so, IDF officials said they would continue attacking targets inside the Gaza Strip in their mission to eradicate Hamas following their Oct. 7 attack into southern Israel that killed some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — and resulted in hundreds of others taken hostage.
The pause was the result of “additional related discussions” with the United Nations and international aid organizations, IDF officials said.
“This is an additional step in the humanitarian aid efforts that have been conducted by the IDF and COGAT (Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories) since the beginning of the war,” Israel Defense Forces officials said on X. “The IDF will continue to support humanitarian efforts on the ground.”
Scott Anderson, director of the Gaza office of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), told CNN that he was glad Israel had instituted a daily tactical pause at the border crossing point. He hopes it will “allow us to move freely in and out of the crossing and bring in much-needed aid for the population.”
Some senior members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Cabinet weren’t happy with the Army’s decision to initiate the tactical pause. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir — a member of Mr. Netanyahu’s coalition government as leader of the nationalist Otzma Yehudit Party — said whatever IDF official gave it the green light was “evil and a fool” and should be sacked.
“This move was not brought before the cabinet and is contrary to its decisions,” Mr. Ben-Gvir said Sunday on X. “It’s time to get out of the concept and stop the crazy and delusional approach that only brings us more dead and fallen.”
The Rafah Crossing between Gaza and Egypt was the main border crossing for humanitarian aid since the war began. The IDF seized the checkpoint last month in what the White House called a “limited military cooperation. Egypt said it would not allow humanitarian assistance to pass through so long as Israeli troops were manning the crossing.
Israeli troops said they located large tunnels running beneath the Rafah border crossing along with a hidden Hamas terror infrastructure.
U.S. officials have pushed Israeli officials to open up border crossings and allow more humanitarian aid trucks into Gaza, which it says is the fastest means of getting help to Palestinian civilians. Washington has ordered several air drops of food into northern Gaza and ordered the Army to build a $320 million floating pier to facilitate the transfer of aid.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.