March 16, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

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

An explosion was reported by a merchant ship traversing the Red Sea in the early hours of Saturday, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) organization said in a warning note. 

“The master of a merchant vessel has reported an explosion in close proximity to the vessel,” read the note, published on X on Saturday, adding that no damage was reported and the crew are safe. 

UKMTO said the incident took place 85 nautical miles east of Aden, Yemen. It did not specify the nationality or flag of the merchant vessel.

Authorities are investigating the incident with the vessel continuing to proceed to its next port of call.

In recent weeks, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels have been stepping up their strikes on ships in the Red Sea, which they say comes as retaliation against Israel for its military campaign in Gaza.

The head of the World Health Organization said he is "gravely concerned" after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Friday he had approved plans for an offensive in Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza.

"Further escalation of violence in this densely populated area would lead to many more deaths and suffering, especially with health facilities already overwhelmed," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus wrote on X.  

According to Netanyahu's office, the Israel Defense Forces "is preparing for the operational side and for the evacuation of the population." 

The White House says it has not received any plans, including on how to get an estimated 1.4 million displaced Palestinians in the city to safety.

The WHO chief said that Palestinians in Rafah do not have anywhere safe to move to, and there are no fully functional, safe health facilities that they can reach elsewhere in Gaza. Many people are too fragile, hungry and sick to be moved again, he said. 

Thousands of protesters filled the streets of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem Saturday night, with two separate groups calling for the government to resign and demanding the release of hostages held in Gaza. 

In Tel Aviv: Demonstrators on two main streets of Tel Aviv called on the Israeli government to resign, with some protesters also seen burning fires and scuffling with police in the city.

Protesters blocked Ayalon Highway — a major inter-city freeway in Gush Dan, Israel, in the metro Tel Aviv area — and chanted, "There is nothing more important. Every hostage must come back." Na'ama Lazimi, a member of the Knesset, Israel's parliament, was seen among the protesters on the highway.  

In Jerusalem and Caesarea: Thousands of family members of hostages still held in Gaza demanded the release of their loved ones on Saturday evening. A social media video captured arrests of protesters who were calling for elections near Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's private residence in Caesarea. Israeli police said they arrested four in Caesarea and two in Jerusalem.  

What police say: Israel Police said it approved the request to hold the protests, but added that "a number of protesters gathered illegally on Menachem Begin Road and began to violate the order by lighting fires on the road and blocking the movement of vehicles."

"At the same time, a number of protesters went down to Ayalon and blocked a part off the road while confronting the police," the statement said, adding that police then "announced that the demonstration was illegal and that they should clear the traffic routes. At this stage, the rioters did not listen to the instructions and the police had to use measures to disperse the rioters in order to stop the offense."

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Bahraini Crown Prince and Prime Minister Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa met Saturday in Bahrain's capital of Manama, where they discussed a potential ceasefire-hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas.

The two officials "discussed efforts to achieve a ceasefire of at least six weeks in Gaza as part of an agreement to secure the release of hostages,” according to State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller.

Blinken pledged support for regional efforts to "promote calm" during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan as the death toll in Gaza continues to climb. 

Blinken and Al Khalifa also talked about attacks by the Yemeni Houthi rebels in the Red Sea area, Miller said, and the two leaders "reaffirmed their shared commitment to international law and freedom of navigation." 

Mossad Director David Barnea is expected to travel to Doha for further ceasefire talks with the Qataris and Egyptians — who have been the principal interlocutors with Hamas — according to a diplomat familiar with the talks.

The diplomat believes the talks will be held on Monday. Reuters reported earlier that the Israeli intelligence agency's head is expected to attend.

CNN reported Friday that an agreement, if it happens, is expected to have multiple phases:

But the toughest sticking points may be the Hamas demands that, after the initial exchange of hostages and prisoners, Israel agrees to a permanent ceasefire and a withdrawal of the Israeli military from Gaza.

Israel’s government has repeatedly said those terms are unacceptable, and that they still intend to continue the fight against Hamas until “complete victory.”

The office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday that “Hamas is continuing to hold to unrealistic demands” but announced that an Israeli team would soon be traveling to Doha to further talks.

Germany, the United States and Jordan have airdropped more humanitarian aid into Gaza on Saturday, according to their militaries.

Germany dropped four tons of aid into northern Gaza, the German Air Force said via the social media platform X, adding that the operation began after Germany’s Defense Minister Boris Pistorius approved the country making airdrops over the strip on Wednesday.

The aid drops were executed in a C-130 Hercules aircraft from a "height of about 1000 meters," according to the statement.

Earlier this morning, the US military and Royal Jordanian Air Force also worked together on an airdrop into northern Gaza “to provide essential relief to civilians in Gaza affected by the ongoing conflict,” US Central Command said.

The aid included 375-pound bundles of rice, flour, milk, pasta and canned food.

“These airdrops are part of a sustained effort, and we continue to plan follow-on aerial deliveries,” the statement added.

More aid needed: This comes as 200 tons of food brought to Gaza from Cyprus by ship is being readied for distribution in the strip, after having been successfully offloaded, according to nonprofit World Central Kitchen.

With Palestinians in Gaza in dire need, any aid is welcome, but aid groups say maritime and airdropped aid should be complementary to land deliveries, not a substitute. Agencies and officials have repeatedly warned that no method of humanitarian relief can be as effective as delivery by land.

Critics have urged the US to pressure its ally Israel to loosen its tight siege on the enclave, with Gaza on the brink of famine.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza has said 37 people, including children and pregnant women, were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a residential block in central Gaza on Friday night.

CNN is unable to verify the number of casualties from the incident west of the Nuseirat Camp, but video from the scene showed ambulance crews loading bodies wrapped in blankets, as well as extensive destruction.

CNN also obtained video of the dead and injured being brought to Al Aqsa Martyrs’ hospital, including the bodies of several children.

According to medical staff, 35 of the 37 victims were members of one family.

Nuseirat has seen multiple strikes in recent days.

CNN obtained video of another strike in Nuseirat overnight Friday in which seven people were killed.

The Israel Defense Forces released video Saturday of a strike on Friday, saying "several Hamas terrorists" were living in the area.

Witnesses said there was also an overnight strike in the Deir al Balah area of northern Gaza.

Two people said residents had received telephone warnings from the Israel Defense Forces to evacuate within 15 minutes. 

One young man, Abdallah Maghbara, told CNN that people had fled without anything after being warned to "clear the entire block in 15 minutes" and "clear the 10 houses around the house of Nani Abu Baraka.”

Subhi Baraka told CNN, "we evacuated the area and returned…and as you can see it is like an earthquake of an entire block.”

CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment on the strikes.

Correction: This post has been corrected to reflect that there were multiple strikes in several locations, and to clarify where the advance warnings were received.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza has said that 63 people were killed as a result of Israeli military operations in the latest 24 hour period.

It said 112 people were injured.

The ministry does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its data. CNN cannot independently verify the numbers from Gaza.

The Ministry said that the cumulative death toll since October 7 in Gaza had risen to 31,553, with 73,546 people injured.

 On Friday, the ministry said that children and women constitute 72% of the total fatalities.