March 9, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

Our live coverage of Israel's war on Hamas in Gaza has moved here.

The first equipment needed to establish a temporary pier in Gaza is on its way, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said Saturday.

On Thursday, US President Joe Biden announced that the US military would begin establishing a port in the territory that could receive large shipments of critically needed food and medical supplies, with Gaza in the grips of a harrowing humanitarian crisis.

CENTCOM said that the US Army Vessel General Frank S. Besson, a logistics support boat, had departed Joint Base Langley-Eustis in Virginia and was en route to the eastern Mediterranean.

Besson is carrying the first equipment to establish the temporary pier, according to CENTCOM.

But relief could be a long way off. The pier and causeway are expected to take at least one month, possibly two, to build and become fully operational, the Pentagon said Friday -- and will likely require up to 1,000 personnel to complete.

The extraordinary measure is among a flurry of actions by the international community to alleviate the crisis in Gaza caused by Israel’s refusal to open additional land crossings or surge more aid by land as it continues to fight Hamas.

In the besieged strip, more than two million people are in need of food and the medical system has all but collapsed.

The Jordanian Armed Forces made 10 airdrops of humanitarian relief into northern Gaza on Saturday.

The airdrops were carried out in cooperation with the United States, France, Egypt and Belgium, the military said in a statement.

"Jordan continues its endeavors and efforts to send more medical, relief and food aid to people in the Gaza Strip with the aim of compensating for the acute shortage of food and medicine as a result of the continuing Israeli war on the Strip," the statement added.

Jordan said it has carried out 35 aid airdrops on Gaza since November 6. 

A video obtained by CNN on Saturday shows several military transport aircraft dropping humanitarian aid in areas in Gaza.

Some context: While airdrops are a speedy way of getting supplies into a conflict zone, aid agencies say their drawbacks overwhelmingly outweigh their benefits.

For starters, they are more expensive. Airdrops cost up to seven times as much as land deliveries, the World Food Programme says. They also have much more limited delivery capacity. 

“Humanitarian workers always complain that airdrops are good photo opportunities but a lousy way to deliver aid,” Richard Gowan, the International Crisis Group’s United Nations director, told CNN.

Aid workers are urging the US to pressure its ally Israel to lift the tight siege it holds on the enclave, which has left Palestinians on the brink of famine.

At least five people were killed and 9 others injured in Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon on Saturday, according to the Lebanese state-run National News Agency (NNA).

NNA reported that fighter jets fired two air-to-surface missiles at a house in the Al-Ain area of Kharbet Selim, killing a man, his pregnant wife, their two children and another individual.

Emergency and relief teams were dispatched to recover the bodies and transport them to the government hospital in Tebnine, NNA reported.

“The raid caused the complete destruction of the house and caused heavy losses to dozens of surrounding homes,” according to NNA.

Hezbollah on Saturday released a statement that three of the Iran-backed Islamist movement's fighters were killed on Saturday, providing no further details.

CNN has contacted the Israel Defense Forces for comment, which said it is looking into the airstrike reports.

There has been daily cross-border fire between Israel and Lebanon since the war in Gaza began, and the IDF has repeatedly said it is targeting "Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in the areas in southern Lebanon." Hezbollah has voiced support for Hamas and Palestinians, and is among several Iranian proxy groups at the center of inflamed regional tensions during the war.

US President Joe Biden said in an interview Saturday that a Gaza ceasefire deal before the start of Ramadan on Monday is still “possible,” mentioning that CIA Director Bill Burns is in the region to aid the negotiations “right at this minute.”

"I never give up on that," Biden told MSNBC’s Jonathan Capehart when asked if a ceasefire could be reached before the Muslim holy month begins.

CNN has previously reported that a ceasefire deal in Gaza — which would see Israeli hostages freed and the first break in fighting in more than three months — is unlikely to happen by the start of Ramadan, according to sources familiar with the negotiations.

On addressing Israeli lawmakers: Biden also said he would like to return to Israel and address the country’s parliament, the Knesset, but declined to discuss it in more detail when pressed by the MSNBC anchor.

Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria last week that Biden should go over current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's head and address the parliament directly.

US President Joe Biden pledged continued support for Israel but indicated there are "red lines" that Israel could cross in its war against Hamas in Gaza.

In an interview on MSNBC Saturday, Biden was asked if he has any "red line" with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Biden said the US wouldn’t cut off all weapons shipments to Israel.

"There's other ways to deal ... with the trauma caused by Hamas," he added.

Biden has been increasingly vocal in his calls for Israel to more deliberately protect civilian life in Gaza over the last few weeks. 

“Israel has had the overwhelming support of the vast majority of nations,” Biden told comedian Seth Meyers in an interview last week. “If it keeps this up with this incredibly conservative government they have … they’re going to lose support from around the world.”

On Saturday, Biden told MSNBC he cautioned Israel’s war cabinet to not "make the mistake America made," referencing his visit to Israel in October of last year, where he cautioned Israelis not to be "consumed" by rage like America was after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

“America made a mistake. We went after (Osama) Bin Laden until we got him. But we shouldn't have gone into Ukraine,” Biden said, before correcting himself. “I mean, we shouldn't, we shouldn't have gone into the whole thing in Iraq and Afghanistan. It wasn't necessary, wasn't necessary.” 

At least eight people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on buildings in central Gaza on Saturday afternoon local time, according to health officials at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital and witnesses on the ground.

Several witnesses told CNN on Saturday that the airstrike hit residential buildings in Nuseirat in central Gaza.

A video obtained by CNN from the hospital shows at least four of the dead being brought from the area to the facility — including two children, who were found dead after being pulled out from under rubble.

CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment on the alleged airstrike. The IDF has repeatedly said they are "operating to dismantle Hamas military and administrative capabilities."

Thousands of protesters gathered again on Saturday in Israeli cities — including Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and the coastal town of Caesarea — to demand a general election and the removal of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from government.

In Tel Aviv's Democracy Square, protesters chanted: "We will not stop until Bibi (Netanyahu) is arrested!"

As the night progressed, clashes erupted between Israeli police and some demonstrators. 

The Israeli police arrested 16 people, saying a group breached orders by "crossing fences," "throwing smoke grenade" toward an intersection and "firing a gas grenade" at both protesters and police.

Photos from the scene showed police on horseback and on foot attempting to disperse people, with some using water cannons on the protesters. 

Yousef Hammash, a Gaza resident and advocacy officer for the Norwegian Refugee Council, said the efforts on airdrops and plans for a port in Gaza would be better put toward getting aid trucks directly into the strip.

He said the US plan to build a temporary port off the coast — which the Pentagon says could take up to two months to complete — is also "kind of unrealistic, to be honest."

His comments echo those made by United Nations and aid agency officials.

Hammash said the international community — especially the US — should instead focus on using its influence to get aid trucks into Gaza as hunger threatens the enclave. Israel has maintained severe restrictions on that access, allowing aid via ground routes only in a trickle.

Hammash called for a permanent ceasefire to the war. "We don't want to find ourselves in that circle of violence again and again," he said.