CAIRO, July 27. /TASS/. Hamas has slammed Israel’s decision to declare daily tactical pauses in some areas of the Gaza Strip as a move aiming to distract attention from continuing hostilities killing civilians.

"Israel declares humanitarian pauses, but the situation on the ground proves that this is being done to distract attention," Hamas quoted one of its leaders, Ali Baraka, on its Telegram channel.

According to Baraka, these pauses are meant to "provide cover in the eyes of the world community while continuing killing civilians in Gaza, in particular those awaiting humanitarian aid distribution."

Earlier in the day, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) announced a pause in military activity in several Gaza areas to ease the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave. The pause will take place from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. local time (from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. GMT) in Al Mawasi, Deir al-Balah and Gaza City where the Israeli army is not conducting military operations and will be in effect until further notice. The move, according to the IDF, aims to increase the amount of humanitarian aid coming into the Gaza Strip.