'No ceasefire' without the release of our hostages, says Israeli PM Netanyahu

“The fighting continues, and there will be no ceasefire without the release of our hostages,” Netanyahu said in a statement that CNN cited.

“Israel is allowing safe passage corridors from the northern strip to its south, as 50,000 Gazans did just yesterday," reports CNN.

“We call again upon the Gazan civilian population to evacuate to the south,” said CNN, quoting Netanyahu.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said Thursday that Hamas has not put forward viable proposals on any hostage release.

“Whilst there are many, many people who are third parties or sending optimistic messages to the news reels, I’m saying outright, according to my knowledge, up to now, there is no real, substantial information that is showing any real offer of any process on the table," Herzog told NBC News in an interview.

“And that is unfortunate. And of course we are working both on the military front and all other fronts to bring them back home.”

Israel will start implementing daily four-hour pauses in military operations in parts of northern Gaza, according to US National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby.

Since Saturday, Israel has already begun to establish evacuation routes that last for many hours. Civilians were able to evacuate from northern Gaza south of Wadi Gaza on Thursday for six hours after Israel established an evacuation path.

Over 10,000 Palestinians have already died in Gaza since Hamas fighters attacked Israel on October 7. Hamas has also claimed the lives of almost 1,400 Israelis.