“There is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” an Israeli military official said Thursday as a “humanitarian conference” was held in Paris to try to unblock international aid to the Palestinian territory, which is under siege and bombarded by Israel, AFP reported.

“We know that the situation is not easy for civilians in Gaza, we know that there are many challenges (…) many difficulties, but I can say that there is no humanitarian crisis in Gaza,” Colonel Moshe. Tetro, the head of Gaza, told the media the Israeli Defense Ministry body that oversees civilian activities in the Palestinian territories (Cogat).

“We have a war, a war that we did not choose. Hamas (the Palestinian Islamist movement in power in Gaza since 2007) decided to start this war,” the officer added during a press briefing at the Nizan border crossing between Israel and Egypt.

“A humanitarian disaster is unfolding before our eyes” in Gaza, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at the end of October, and he repeatedly called for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire.”

Israel and Hamas have been at war since the Palestinian Islamist movement launched an unprecedented, violent attack on Israel from Gaza on October 7.

On the Israeli side, according to Israeli authorities, more than 1,400 people were killed in this conflict, mostly civilians, killed by Hamas commandos on the first day of hostilities.

According to the Gaza Hamas Ministry of Health, Israel’s massive and intensive bombardment of the Gaza Strip has killed more than 10,800 people, the vast majority of them civilians, more than 4,000 of whom are believed to be children.

“Humanitarian pause”

The White House said Israel would begin imposing a four-hour “humanitarian pause” in the northern Gaza Strip to allow people to flee.

Aid trucks for Gaza at the Rafah border with Egypt Photo: Mohammed Assad / AFP / Profimedia

Spokesman John Kirby called the move a step in the right direction and said the US wants these breaks to last as long as they are needed.

The first humanitarian break will be announced today, and Israel has committed to announcing each window at least three hours in advance, he said.

At this time, America is still not advocating a cease-fire in Gaza, Kirby said.

He said the Biden administration provided a second route for civilians to flee the fighting.

He added that the US aims for at least 150 humanitarian trucks to enter Gaza every day.

Biden insists on additional pauses in the fights

When the White House announced that Israel had agreed to a four-hour break each day, Joe Biden said he was pushing for more breaks.

He said he had asked for an “even longer” humanitarian pause of three days.

It comes after the president confirmed earlier this week that he had spoken to Benjamin Netanyahu about a three-day pause in the release of the hostages.