Reports have emerged that the IDF decided to begin a "tactical pause of military activity" along the major road from the Kerem Shalom crossing to Salah al-Din.
The IDF announced on Sunday that “as part of ongoing efforts by the IDF and COGAT to increase the volumes of humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip and following additional related discussions with the UN and international organizations, starting yesterday (Saturday), a local, tactical pause of military activity for humanitarian purposes will take place from 08:00 until 19:00 every day until further notice along the road that leads from the Kerem Shalom Crossing to the Salah al-Din Road and then northwards.”
Sources close to the prime minister as well as Defense Minister Yoav Gallant criticized the IDF for acting without authorization.
IDF sources said that nothing unusual had happened at all.
Rather, they said that there are localized pauses in fighting in specific sectors of Gaza on a regular basis to permit humanitarian aid to be transferred, often for up to eight hours, even as the war rages on in other parts of Gaza.
IDF says short pause was only in specific area
These IDF sources said that an 11 hour pause only for a very specific sector, as fighting continued elsewhere, was not substantively different.
Further, the sources said that the government has continued to ask the IDF to facilitate the transfer of humanitarian aid, such that the IDF view is that the pause was fully authorized by the government even if it did involve a special meeting or discussion per se.
Also, the IDF emphasized that fighting continued in other parts of Gaza at all times.
Despite protestations of fighting continuing from both the political and military class, the fighting in Gaza has been at a very low level now for nearly a month, with the last major push having been in early May when the IDF took over most of Rafah.
In the North, Hezbollah significantly reduced its attacks after a week of heavy escalation.
Hezbollah still did try to attack Israel with an unidentified aerial threat which the IDF said it shot down, and there may have been some other aerial threats.
Israel's Air Force (IAF) announced Sunday that it had carried out strikes against Hezbollah terror targets in Lebanon on Saturday night.
The IAF struck a weapons storage facility and a military structure in Aitaroun.
The IAF also struck Hezbollah infrastructure in Chihine, as well as a military structure in the area of Ayta ash Shab in southern Lebanon.
Later Sunday, the IDF said that it had also attacked Hezbollah in the Yaroun and Amra areas.
Still, even the IDF attacks were limited compared to last week.