Israel will begin four-hour pauses in northern Gaza to allow people to flee hostilities, the White House announced in what it called a step in the right direction.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said the pauses emerged from discussions between the U.S and Israeli officials in recent days, including talks U.S. President Joe Biden had with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"We've been told by the Israelis that there will be no military operations in these areas over the duration of the pause, and that this process is starting today," Kirby said.

"We understand that Israel will begin to implement four-hour pauses in areas of northern Gaza with an announcement to come three hours in advance," he said.

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Biden has asked for a three day pause for Gaza, and a pause much longer than that to get hostages out.

Israel unleashed its assault on Gaza in response to a cross-border Hamas raid on southern Israel on October 7 in which gunmen killed 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and took about 240 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. It was the single worst day of bloodshed in Israel's 75-year history.

Palestinian officials said 10,812 Gaza residents had been killed as of Thursday, about 40 percent of them children, in air and artillery strikes while basic supplies are running out and areas laid waste by unrelenting Israeli bombardments.

Trilateral talks in Qatar

Israeli and U.S. spy chiefs are in Qatar for talks on "a potential humanitarian pause" to the conflict raging in Gaza since October 7, an official with knowledge of the visit said.

CIA director Bill Burns and David Barnea, head of Israel's Mossad spy agency, "are both visiting Doha for trilateral talks with the Qataris to work through the details of a potential humanitarian pause that would see the release of hostages and more aid entering Gaza", the official told journalists, requesting anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.

"Talks have been progressing well towards a deal in the past few days," the official said.

Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani met United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyanin in Abu Dhabi and discussed the situation in Gaza, according to a statement released by Qatari Emiri Diwan.

And Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh arrived in Egypt for talks, the group said.

Hamas said in a statement that its delegation had met with Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel "for discussions on the current situation in the Gaza Strip."

Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad released a video it claimed showed two hostages, a woman in her 70s and a 13-year-old boy, held in Gaza.

"We are ready to release them on humanitarian grounds when the security conditions on the ground are met," said Abu Hamza, spokesman for the group's military wing, which is believed to hold some of the 240 hostages Israeli officials say were seized during Hamas's October 7 attacks.

Fifteen Palestinians were killed and at least 20 others were injured by Israeli forces in a raid on Jenin city and refugee camp and in other Palestinian towns in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said.

Israel's military said it was conducting counter-terrorism raids in Jenin, but gave no further details.

At least 178 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since the deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, according to Palestinian Health Ministry figures.

A total of 106 aid trucks and ambulances entered Gaza through the Rafah crossing on Wednesday, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, which said the supply still does not meet the enclave's needs. 

An Israeli military official denied there is a humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, even as he acknowledged the Palestinian territory faces several challenges amid the ongoing conflict.

Evacuations from the Gaza Strip into Egypt for foreign passport holders and Palestinians needing medical treatment resumed through the Rafah crossing on Thursday after being suspended for a day, Egyptian security and medical sources said.

Humanitarian conference on Gaza

In Paris, officials from about 80 countries and organizations were meeting to coordinate humanitarian aid to Gaza and find ways to help wounded civilians escape the siege.The conflict in Gaza is a wildfire that could spread across the region, UN aid chief Martin Griffiths said, adding that allowing the situation to continue in Gaza would be a "travesty."

"The United Nations cannot be part of a unilateral proposal to push Palestinians into so-called safe zones," he said in Paris.

Also speaking at the conference, French President Emmanuel Macron said there must be a humanitarian pause very quickly in Gaza and that countries must also work for a ceasefire.

"Civilians must be protected, that's indispensable and non-negotiable and is an immediate necessity," Macron said.

"Without a ceasefire, lifting of siege and indiscriminate bombardment and warfare, the hemorrhage of human lives will continue," Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said before the White House announcement.

Israel, which has vowed to wipe out Hamas, says 33 of its soldiers have been killed in its ground operation.

Bombs hit near hospitals

Türkiye-based TRT news reported that Israeli aircraft have bombed the vicinity of Al Shifa Hospital and Al Nasr Children's Hospital in Gaza. 

According to the Palestinian news agency WAFA, Al Shifa Hospital, which houses thousands of patients and refugees, was targeted by missiles intermittently fired from Israeli aircraft.

And an airstrike near Al Nasr Children's Hospital in the western part of the city killed three Palestinians and left dozens more wounded.

Israel is "crushing all humanitarian values" as it continues its attack on Gaza that have killed more than 10,000 people since October 7, Türkiye's President Erdogan said.

"Israel continues to bomb schools, mosques, churches, hospitals, crushing all humanitarian values," Erdogan said, adding that 73 percent of those killed are women and children.

He added that Türkiye has sent 10 planes carrying 230 tonnes of humanitarian aid to El Arish airport for Gaza with the help of Egypt.

Meanwhile, UK's interior minister Suella Braverman faced criticism after accusing police of double standards on what she called "pro-Palestinian mobs" before a political rally on Armistice Day.

Police have said they cannot legally ban Saturday's march in support of Palestinians under Israeli bombardment.

Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has described the planned march as "provocative and disrespectful," heaping pressure on the Metropolitan Police to ban it.

WHO warns of rapid spread of infectious diseases

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who has crossed the region on a diplomatic mission, outlined Washington's expectations for Gaza when the conflict ends. He pushed back at Israeli comments that it would be responsible for security in Gaza indefinitely.

The Palestinian Authority (PA), which exercises limited self-rule in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, says the Gaza Strip, where Hamas has ruled since 2007, is an integral part of what it envisions for a future Palestinian state. 

Israeli officials have said they do not intend to occupy Gaza after the war, but have yet to articulate how they might ensure security. Israel withdrew its forces from Gaza in 2005. 

Tens of thousands of Palestinian civilians have fled the north of Gaza over Wednesday and Thursday seeking refuge from Israeli air strikes and the fierce ground fighting. 

Israel has told residents to evacuate encircled northern parts of Gaza or risk being trapped in the violence.

Huge numbers of displaced people from among Gaza's 2.3 million population are already crammed into schools, hospitals and other sites in the south. Thousands of others remain in the north, including at Gaza City's main Al Shifa hospital.

"As deaths and injuries in Gaza continue to rise due to intensified hostilities, intense overcrowding and disrupted health, water, and sanitation systems pose an added danger: the rapid spread of infectious diseases," the World Health Organization said.

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