CNN — Israel will begin to implement four-hour pauses of military operations in areas of Northern Gaza each day, a White House spokesman said Thursday.

The pauses are meant to allow for humanitarian assistance to get into the besieged enclave and allow civilians to flee away from the fighting.

John Kirby, the National Security Council spokesman, said Israel would announce the timing of the pauses three hours beforehand.

“We’ve been told by the Israelis that there will be no military operations in these areas over the duration of the pause, and that this process is starting today,” Kirby said, calling it “steps in the right direction.”

Kirby said Israel’s decision to allow four-hour pauses came after “an awful lot of engagement by the administration to try to make sure that humanitarian assistance could get in and people could get out safely.” He added that the pauses would provide “brief windows of opportunity” for safe passage of hostages being held by Hamas.

He said the engagement came at levels throughout the administration, including between President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and characterized them as a “significant” first step.

“We have been urging the Israelis to minimize civilian casualties and to do everything that they can to reduce those numbers,” Kirby said, saying they would provide “breathing space for a few hours” for civilians to move out of harm’s way.

Israel has been warning civilians to move to southern Gaza as it attacks targets in the north, a task that has proven difficult – if not impossible – for many Palestinians in the enclave. Civilians have not been able to leave Gaza in large numbers since the war began; groups of foreign nationals and some injured Palestinians were allowed out of the enclave recently.

He added that the US would like to see the daily pauses continue for as long as humanitarian assistance in Gaza is needed.

Biden offered more insight into his talks with the Israelis later Thursday, telling reporters he’s been advocating for a humanitarian pause longer than three days.

Asked whether he asked Netanyahu for a three-day pause in military operations to help facilitate this process, he said, “I’ve been asking for a pause for a lot more than three days. Yes,” later adding, “I’ve asked for even a longer pause for some of them.”

Asked if he was frustrated with Netanyahu and whether the Israeli prime minister listened to things the president has asked for, he downplayed concerns but said it has “taken a little longer than I hoped.”