Taher Al-Nono, a political adviser to Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, has said that unspecified negotiations were continuing and no deal had been reached with Israel so far, Reuters reports.

He gave no more detail in a statement posted on the group’s Telegram channel.

The White House had said earlier in the day that Israel would begin daily four-hour pauses in northern Gaza to enable Palestinians to flee Hamas-Israeli fighting in the coastal enclave.