Israel has agreed pauses in its offensive in northern Gaza that will allow some civilians to flee heavy fighting, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ruled out any broader ceasefire as a “surrender” to Hamas.

“There won’t be a ceasefire without the release of Israeli hostages, that’s not going to happen,” Netanyahu said.

The UN agency responsible for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, said 70,000 people had travelled south on the route since November 4, most of them walking. But the UN estimates hundreds of thousands of civilians remain in the fiercest battle zones in the north, AFP reports.

Almost 1.6 million people have been internally displaced since October 7, it added, more than half the area’s population.