By Nidal Al-Mughrabi and Emily Rose Reuters

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would consider “tactical little pauses” in fighting in the Gaza Strip to let hostages leave or aid get through, but again rejected calls for a ceasefire despite international pressure.

Having encircled densely populated Gaza City in the north of the enclave, where the Hamas Islamist group is based, Israel’s military said it had taken a militant compound and was set to attack fighters hiding in a warren of underground tunnels.

At least 23 Palestinians were killed in two separate Israeli air strikes early on Tuesday in the southern Gaza cities of Khan Younis and Rafah, health officials said.

In Khan Younis, a man rescued from the rubble of a house where Palestinian health officials said 11 people had been killed warned that Israel would be “taught a very tough lesson”.

“This is the bravery of the so-called Israel, they show their might and power against civilians, babies inside, kids inside, and elderly,” the man, who gave his name as Ahmed Ayesh, told reporters.

Israel has bombarded the enclave since the Hamas raid on southern Israel one month ago, when its fighters killed 1,400 people and seized 240 hostages.

Gaza health officials say the Israeli assault has killed more than 10,000 Palestinians, including some 4,100 children.

Both Israel and Hamas have rebuffed mounting calls for a halt in fighting. Israel says hostages should be released first. Hamas says it will not free them nor stop fighting while Gaza is under attack.

Netanyahu said a general ceasefire would hamper his country’s war effort, but pausing fighting for humanitarian reasons, an idea supported by Israel’s top ally the United States, would continue to be considered based on circumstances.

“As far as tactical little pauses – an hour here, an hour there – we’ve had them before. I suppose we’ll check the circumstances in order to enable goods, humanitarian goods to come in, or our hostages, individual hostages, to leave,” Netanyahu told ABC News on Monday.

“But I don’t think there’s going to be a general ceasefire.”

U.S. President Joe Biden discussed such pauses and possible hostage releases in a phone call with Netanyahu on Monday, reiterating his support for Israel while emphasising that it must protect civilians, the White House said.

Like Israel, the U.S. fears Hamas would take advantage of a full ceasefire to regroup.

Calling for an urgent ceasefire, U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned on Monday that Gaza is becoming a “graveyard for children“.