US says does not back Israel-Hamas ceasefire 'at this time'

The United States does not support current calls for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict, the White House says, adding that "pauses" to get aid into Gaza should be considered instead.

"We do not believe that a ceasefire is the right answer right now," US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby tells reporters during a briefing.

Israel declared war on Palestinian militant group Hamas after it launched an unprecedented wave of attacks inside Israel on October 7, killing more than 1,400 people, mostly civilians, and taking more than 230 people hostage.

The United Nations has repeatedly called for a humanitarian truce in the violence, which the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza claims has killed more than 8,000 people, many of them children.