U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed, during his speech on his visit to Israel today, Friday, Washington's desire to see humanitarian pauses in the fighting in the Gaza Strip, while acknowledging the challenge of preventing Hamas from using this pause to its advantage.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who met with Blinken shortly before holding his press conference in Tel Aviv, appeared not to yield to these pressures, stating in a statement that he rejected any temporary halt to the battle against Hamas that does not include "the release of hostages," and noted that he has said this many times to the United States.

In another sign of some disagreement between the two sides, Blinken called for fuel provision, along with other humanitarian aid, saying that there are "mechanisms" that can be put in place to ensure their arrival at Gaza hospitals. He also pointed out the shared concerns with Israel that Hamas could exploit the fuel for its own needs, while Netanyahu, at the same time, insisted that Israel "will not allow fuel to enter Gaza."

In his statements, the chief U.S. foreign policy official affirmed that "as long as the United States stands, Israel will not stand alone," adding that he conveyed this message in his meetings with Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog, and the defense ministers.

He reiterated that Israel has "the right, and indeed the obligation, to defend itself and to do everything possible to ensure that October 7 does not happen again," yet, at the same time, he said, "The way Israel is implementing that, we need to do more to protect Palestinian civilians."

On Thursday, Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi said that Israel would allow fuel to enter Gaza through the Rafah crossing with Egypt if Israel determined that hospitals had run out of fuel.

Halevi indicated that hospitals in Gaza, which rely on fuel for power generators, have warned for more than a week of their fuel running out, but this has not happened yet.

Shortly after Halevi's comments, the Prime Minister's Office issued a promotional statement that only indicated that Netanyahu "has not agreed to allow fuel into Gaza."