March 17, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel will keep trying to secure a deal that would see the release of 100 hostages in exchange for a six week pause in fighting in an interview with CNN's Dana Bash.

When asked if he was open to the potential deal, Netanyahu replied:

“Time will tell but Hamas’ outlandish demands… makes that deal a lot more difficult. But we’re going to keep on trying because we want those hostages back.”

He said continued military pressure is the "one thing that gets Hamas to give them", so Israeli is going to "continue military pressure and we are going to continue to try to get those hostages out."

An Israeli operation in Rafah, southern Gaza, will take "several weeks," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday, saying he will push ahead with an offensive that has sparked international alarm.

"I reiterate: We will operate in Rafah. This will take several weeks, and it will happen," Netanyahu said at the beginning of a government meeting. 

"To our friends in the international community, I say: Are your memories that short? Have you so quickly forgotten October 7, the most horrific massacre of Jews since the Holocaust?"

His comments come ahead of a Sunday interview on CNN's State of the Union – we'll bring you that as it happens.

Netanyahu said "the operational plans for action in Rafah, including advancing the steps to evacuate the civilian population from the combat zones," have been approved. "This is an essential stage ahead of the military action."

Netanyahu went on to say that in the international community, "there are those who are trying to stop the war" by "hurling false accusations at the IDF, the Government of Israel and the Prime Minister of Israel."

"They are doing so by means of an effort to bring about elections now, at the height of the war. They are doing this because they know that elections now will halt the war and paralyze the country for at least six months," he said. 

Remember: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Thursday criticized Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government, calling for new elections in a speech on the Senate floor on the Israel-Hamas war.

Separately, the World Health Organization head, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said he is "gravely concerned" about an offensive in Rafah, where 1.4 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering.

The first aid ship into Gaza carrying 200 tons of much-needed food has been fully offloaded as part of new efforts to ease a dire humanitarian crisis.

A second boat of 240 tonnes of humanitarian food aid is being prepared, according to nonprofit World Central Kitchen (WCK).

However, maritime shipments cannot stop what aid agencies warn is a looming famine in Gaza on their own.

Here's why.

There are no functioning ports left in Gaza, with UN Special Rapporteur for food Michael Fakhr saying last week that Israel decimated the enclave's main port.

For the ship that arrived Friday, workers had to assemble a jetty to which the vessel could be connected before being offloaded.

While US President Joe Biden has announced plans to establish a separate port in Gaza to receive large aid shipments, that floating pier could take up to two months and some 1,000 US military personnel to complete, according to the Pentagon.

Ships carrying aid are also subject to the same Israeli inspections that have been accused by aid agencies of denying access for arbitrary reasons, or no reason at all.

A 200-ton shipment also does not match up to the daily average of about 94.5 trucks crossing into Gaza via land as of last month, each carry about 20 tons of aid -- and even that’s far below the estimated 500 trucks the UN says are needed daily in order to alleviate the suffering of Gazans.

Read more about the challenges aid deliveries in Gaza are encountering here.

Ninety-two people have been killed in Gaza over the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll since October 7 to 31,645 Palestinians, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza.

A total of 130 people were injured in the past 24 hours, the ministry added, bringing the number of injured to 73,676. 

Many of the victims remain trapped under rubble and on the roads, with ambulance and civil defense crews unable to reach them, the ministry said. 

The ministry does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its data.

CNN cannot independently verify these numbers due to the challenges of reporting from the war zone.

Eleven Palestinians were killed in an Israeli bombardment of a house in Deir al Balah in central Gaza early on Sunday, according to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, who received casualties and treated others who were injured.

Eyewitnesses told hospital staff the bombardment was caused by an Israeli airstrike.

Casualties included women and children, according to the hospital.

The Israeli military says it struck a Hezbollah military compound in the Khiam area in southern Lebanon, saying in a statement the action was in response to launches fired toward the city of Acre.

It said its fighter jets also struck a Hezbollah observation post in the area of Kfarkela and "artillery struck to remove a threat in the area of Maisat."

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."