Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has again ruled out a ceasefire until Hamas releases its captives in Gaza, but signalled his openness to “tactical little pauses” to allow the movement of people and aid, writes Al Jazeera.

“There’ll be no ceasefire, general ceasefire, in Gaza without the release of our hostages. As far as tactical little pauses, an hour here, an hour there – we’ve had them before”, Netanyahu said in an interview with ABC News.

“I suppose we’ll check the circumstances in order to enable goods, humanitarian goods to come in, or our hostages, individual hostages to leave. But I don’t think there’s going to be a general ceasefire”.

Netanyahu’s comments come as Israel faces growing international pressure to halt its bombardment of Gaza, which was launched in response to Hamas’s October 7 attacks that Israeli officials say killed at least 1,405 people, mostly civilians.

On Monday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for an urgent ceasefire, warning that the enclave had become a “graveyard for children“. The United States has pressed Netanyahu to agree to “humanitarian pauses” to allow aid into the enclave, but backed the Israeli leader’s opposition to a full ceasefire. At least 10,022 Palestinians, including more than 4,100 children, have been killed in Gaza during the month-long war, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave.