March 9, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

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

The US Army Vessel General Frank S. Besson departs Joint Base Langley-Eustis.

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 speaks at a campaign event in Philadelphia on March 8.

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.

“I’m never going to leave Israel. The defense of Israel is still critical. So there’s no red line (where) I’m going to cut off all weapons so they don’t have the Iron Dome to protect them,” Biden said, referring to Israel’s missile defense system.
“But there’s red lines that if he crosses … (we) cannot have 30,000 more Palestinians dead as a consequence of going after (Hamas),” Biden continued, but didn’t say exactly what those red lines entailed.

“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.”

Mounted Israeli security forces push protesters away from a road during a demonstration in Tel Aviv on March 9.

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!”

“No to a government of terrorists!” one sign read.
“You are the leader; you are the guilty one!” other protesters chanted.

Police use water cannon to disperse protesters in Tel Aviv on March 9.

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 speaks with CNN.

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.

“First thing: Any small help, even for one child, (is) worth it. But I don’t think that it was realistic to spend all that amount of effort on airdropping,” he told CNN in an interview from the southernmost city of Rafah.

Palestinian children wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen amid shortages of food supplies, in Rafah, Gaza, on March 5.

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.

“We are lacking literally everything: We are lacking electricity, fuel, food, water — anything (for) our basic needs,” especially in northern Gaza, he said.

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.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau waits to greet Ecuador's President Daniel Noboa in Ottawa, Canada, on March 5.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held a phone call with Benny Gantz — a key figure in the Israeli war cabinet — on Friday to discuss Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.

The two leaders called for the immediate release of all remaining hostages held in Gaza and urged the international community to keep working toward their release, the Canadian prime minister’s office said in a statement Saturday.

Trudeau, however, expressed his concern about “Israel’s planned offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah and the severe humanitarian implications for all civilians taking refuge in the area,” according to the statement.

“The protection of civilians is paramount and a requirement under international humanitarian law,” Trudeau added in the statement. 

Remember: Gantz has previously said Israel will expand military operations in Rafah — where displaced Palestinians are now sheltering by the thousands in desperate conditions — if a deal is not reached by the start of Ramadan early next week. That has caused panic in the southern city. Gazans say they have nowhere left to flee, and the United Nations aid chief has warned of a potential “slaughter” if Israeli troops move in.

The US conducted another humanitarian assistance airdrop into northern Gaza on Saturday, according to US Central Command. The airdrop included supplies equal to more than 41,400 meals and 23,000 bottles of water, CENTCOM said in a statement.

But the United Nations and aid agencies have questioned the effectiveness of ongoing airdrops from several countries. The risks were shown starkly on Friday when malfunctioning parachutes caused aid pallets to hurtle from the sky at breakneck speed, killing five unsuspecting people.

While Israel continues to severely restrict the distribution of aid within the enclave, some critics have said the American effort should instead be focused on halting Israel’s military campaign and pressuring the US ally to allow critical humanitarian access.

Here are other headlines you should know:

The United States and coalition forces downed at least 28 unmanned aircraft flown by the Houthi rebel group in the Red Sea area Saturday, according to US Central Command. 

In a statement, CENTCOM wrote the “defeat” of the Houthi attack came “following further engagements through the morning.” No US vessels or commercial ships were damaged in the attack, according to the statement.

CNN reported earlier that US forces shot down over a dozen drones launched by the Iranian-backed Houthis over the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Saturday morning local time, according to CENTCOM, after the Houthis conducted a “large-scale” drone attack.

For context: The wave of drones comes in spite of continued US and coalition airstrikes against Houthi targets in Yemen.

The first fatal attack by the Iran-backed militant group occurred this week, when at least three crew members were killed and four others injured in the assault Wednesday on the M/V True Confidence, a Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned bulk carrier.

The Houthis have been targeting shipping in the Red Sea since shortly after the war between Israel and Hamas began, with the group tying the attacks to its effort to pressure Israel and its allies to stop the war in Gaza. They are among several Iranian proxy groups at the center of global concerns the war could spill further through the Mideast.

US service members secure humanitarian aid, bound for airdrop over Gaza, onto a cargo aircraft on March 1. 

The US has joined several other countries in airdropping aid into Gaza, which is grappling with a humanitarian crisis.

Aid deliveries on land are severely restricted by Israel and falling far short of the numbers needed to ward off famine in the enclave, so it is hoped these airdrops will provide a lifeline to civilians.

But the United Nations and aid agencies have questioned how effective they will be at alleviating the situation, and their risks were shown starkly on Friday when malfunctioning parachutes caused aid pallets to hurtle from the sky at breakneck speed, killing five unsuspecting people.

Photo ops and pitfalls: Airdrops evade the often rigorous examinations carried out at land checkpoints, so are undoubtedly a speedy way of getting supplies into a conflict zone. But despite this advantage, 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. For example, one truck is capable of delivering nearly 10 times the amount one aircraft could deliver — roughly 20 to 30 metric tonnes, according to the UN.

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

Experts have also questioned whether countries have plans in place for the aid once it reaches the ground. The UN special rapporteur on the right to food, Michael Fakhri, says airdrops usually culminate in chaos.

Read more about the history of airdrops and why they are being carried out now in Gaza.

At least two more people died in Gaza on Saturday due to severe malnutrition and dehydration, according to Dr. Ashraf Al-Qidra, the spokesperson for the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.

A two-month-old infant passed away at Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, and a 20-year-old woman also died due to starvation at the Al-Shifa medical complex in Gaza City, Al-Qidra said in a statement, bringing the total number to 25.

More context: As Israel’s severe restrictions on aid entering the Gaza Strip drain essential supplies, displaced Palestinians told CNN they are struggling to feed their children. Starving mothers are unable to produce enough milk to breastfeed their babies, doctors say. Parents arrive at overwhelmed health facilities begging for infant formula. Civilians have lost on average tens of kilograms of weight, according to relief workers. In northern Gaza, people rush to grab aid from infrequent humanitarian drops. Health workers say they cannot offer life-saving treatment to malnourished Gazans because Israel’s bombardment and siege has crushed the medical system.

The United States Air Force drops humanitarian aid into Gaza Strip on Saturday, March 9.

The US conducted another humanitarian assistance airdrop into northern Gaza on Saturday, according to US Central Command.

The airdrop included supplies equal to more than 41,400 meals and 23,000 bottles of water, CENTCOM said in a statement.

Some background: The airdrops come as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza deepens, with Palestinians reporting deaths of starvation and having to ration food for children.

President Joe Biden also announced plans this week for the US to build a new port in Gaza, to help facilitate delivery of humanitarian aid. But it will take weeks before the port is functional.

Officials from humanitarian organizations working in Gaza have criticized US aid efforts as insufficient as long as its ally Israel continues to severely restrict the entry and distribution of aid in the strip.

CIA Director Bill Burns met with David Barnea, the director of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, in Jordan on Friday.

The meeting was “part of ongoing efforts to promote another deal for the return of the hostages,” the Israeli prime minister’s office said in a statement on behalf of Mossad. It said it remains engaged with mediators but again blamed Hamas for the lack of progress on a deal.

Burns traveled to the Middle East this week and has also made stops in Egypt and Qatar, as the US tries to help the mediators broker a ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas.

US officials tell CNN the negotiations have reached a standstill, and that a deal is unlikely by the start of Ramadan next week.

CNN’s Lauren Izso contributed reporting to this post.

Palestinians gather in front of a residential building hit in an overnight Israeli air strike in Rafah, Gaza, on March 9.

The Israel Defense Forces said Saturday that it targeted a Hamas military asset in the Rafah area of southern Gaza overnight, after Palestinian reports that scores of civilians were hurt in the strike.

In response to a question from CNN regarding reports on the Israeli strike on a residential building in central Rafah, the IDF said, “Overnight, the IDF precisely targeted a military asset used by the Hamas terrorist organization in the area of Rafah.”

“Terror activities against Israeli civilians and IDF troops were planned inside this property,” the IDF claimed. The military also claimed civilians had been evacuated.

Palestinian news agency WAFA reported earlier that the strike hit a residential building and resulted in civilian injuries. “Scores of civilians sustained various injuries today in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a residential tower in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip,” the WAFA report said.

CNN is unable to independently verify the casualty numbers or claims made by WAFA in its reporting, or the IDF claims in its statement, due to lack of access to wartime Gaza.

A CNN stringer on the ground in Rafah reported that five missiles hit the building. Video obtained by CNN shows smoke billowing out of the building.

CNN’s Ibrahim Dahman, Kareem Khadder and Amy Cassidy contributed reporting to this posts.

Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebel group has claimed it targeted US war destroyers in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden with drones, the group’s military spokesperson Yahya Saree said, marking the rebels’ latest attack on shipping in the region as Israel wages war in Gaza.

The Houthis “will persist in upholding their military operations in the Red and Arab Seas until the aggression stops and the siege on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip in lifted,” Saree added.

US Central Command said earlier that US forces shot down 15 drones launched by the Houthis over the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Saturday morning.

Other attacks: Also according to US Central Command, the Houthis fired two missiles from Yemen into the Gulf of Aden at the Singapore-owned ship M/V Propel Fortune on Friday, but the missiles did not hit the ship, and there were no injuries.

And overnight, a British warship shot down two Houthi attack drones, according to the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defense. There were no injuries or damage, the ministry said. 

This comes days after the first fatal attack by the militant group in its ongoing assaults in the Red Sea. At least three crew members were killed and four others injured on Wednesday in the Gulf of Aden after a Houthi ballistic missile struck the M/V True Confidence, a Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned bulk carrier.

The Houthis are among several Iranian proxy groups at the center of global concerns that the war in Gaza could spill further through the Mideast.

CNN’s Lauren Kent contributed reporting to this post.

Palestinians fill containers with water in Gaza City on March 3.

Four out of every five households in Gaza are without safe water, the United Nations warned Saturday. 

“Displaced people each have access to only 2 litres of water per day, well below the recommended minimum standard of 15 litres,” the UN wrote on social media platform X.

It comes as water, hygiene and sanitation services “remain severely constrained” in the war-torn strip, the UN said.

“The vast majority of households lack access to safe, clean water,” the UN continued, adding: “Internally displaced families are sheltering in unsanitary, crowded conditions.”

“Access to clean water is a human right,” it said.

CNN has previously reported on people in Gaza drinking polluted water and facing unsanitary conditions, as starvation and dehydration increasingly become threats in the enclave. Some say they have resorted to eating grass for survival.

The number of people who have died of dehydration and malnutrition in Gaza has risen to at least 23, a Palestinian Ministry of Health spokesman in Gaza said Friday.

CNN cannot independently confirm the deaths or their causes, due to the lack of international media access to wartime Gaza.

Previous reporting from CNN’s Sana Noor Haq, Rosa Rahimi and Kareem Khadder

French armed forces have destroyed four combat drones in the Gulf of Aden that were heading towards a European Union naval operation Saturday morning, according to the French Armed Forces Ministry, which called the move “self-defense.”

According to a statement by the Armed Forces Ministry, a frigate was patrolling the Gulf of Aden the EU military operation to safeguard commercial vessels in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. The frigate detected four combat drones that were heading towards it in “tactical flight” and destroyed them in self-defense, the statement said.

The French ministry said that the “defensive action directly contributed to the protection of the cargo ship True Confidence,” which was attacked on Wednesday, causing at least three crew members to be killed and four others to be injured.

“Alongside their allies, the French armed forces are contributing to maritime security, from the Suez Canal to the Strait of Hormuz, and are participating in the defense of freedom of navigation,” the ministry added.

Ongoing sea assaults: This comes after US forces shot down 15 drones launched by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis over the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Saturday morning, according to the US Central Command.

The militants claimed they targeted US war destroyers in those areas and said such attacks will “persist” in the Red and Arab Seas until “the siege on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip” is stopped.

The Swedish government announced Saturday that it has resumed funding to the primary humanitarian aid agency in Gaza, UNRWA, saying the organization gave assurances of “stricter controls” in response to allegations some of its staffers were involved in the October 7 Hamas attack.

Canada announced the same decision earlier Saturday, highlighting the “significant processes” the aid agency had set up to address the allegations from Israel.

The two were among a host of countries to suspend funding to UNRWA in January amid the claims.

The Swedish government said in a statement that it has since received “bilateral confirmation” from UNRWA that it will allow “independent auditing, strengthen internal supervision and enable additional staff controls” within the organization.

Almost $39 million (SEK 400 million) has been allocated to UNRWA for 2024, the Swedish government said. Half of that has been issued as an “initial disbursement” and more will follow as UNRWA “makes progress on the measures.”

The decision was also taken “in light of the acute humanitarian situation in Gaza,” it said.

“In this acute situation, where needs among the civilian population are huge, the foremost priority is saving lives. UNRWA is the organisation that is best positioned to help vulnerable Palestinians,” Gudrun Brunegård, aid policy spokesperson for Sweden’s Christian Democrats party, said in the statement.

Palestinians gather near a building damaged in an Israeli air strike in Rafah, Gaza, on Saturday.

An Israeli strike on a residential building in Rafah has injured scores of people on Saturday, according to Palestinian news agency WAFA.

“Scores of civilians sustained various injuries today in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a residential tower in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip,” a WAFA report said.

“Medical sources reported that occupation fighter jets targeted the Al-Masri residential tower, in the central of Rafah, wounding a number of citizens,” WAFA reported.

CNN is unable to independently verify the casualty numbers or claims made by WAFA in its reporting. 

A CNN stringer on the ground in Rafah reported that five missiles hit the building. Video shows smoke billowing out of the building. CNN has reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for comment.

Gaza toll rises: The Gaza Ministry of Health said Saturday that 82 people were killed over the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll in the Gaza Strip to 30,960 since October 7. A number of victims remained under rubble, according to the health ministry.

Some 122 injuries were recorded in the 24 hours leading up to Saturday morning, bringing the total number of injuries to 72,524, the Gaza health ministry said.

IDF soldiers operate next to the UNRWA headquarters in Gaza on February 8.

Canada announced Friday that it will restart assistance for people in Gaza through the main UN agency in Gaza, UNRWA, after the organization set up “significant processes” to address allegations some of its staffers were involved in the October 7 Hamas attack.

Canada was among a host of countries to pull funding in the wake of the claims.

“Today, Ahmed Hussen, Minister of International Development, announced that Canada will be lifting its temporary pause on funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA),” the Canadian government said.

The government said it “commends the independent review of UNRWA currently underway,” adding that “the UN has put in place several significant processes to address the allegations and reinforce its zero tolerance for terror within the UN, including UNRWA.”

Canada said it is resuming funding so more can be done to respond to the urgent needs of Palestinian civilians.

“Canada is deeply concerned by the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza that is worsening by the hour. Help must reach civilians as quickly as possible,” the statement added.

Hussen did not say when exactly funding would resume. 

Juliette Touma, UNRWA’s director of communications, welcomed Canada’s decision and called on other countries that have suspended funding to reconsider.

Speaking during the UN General Assembly meeting Monday, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said 16 countries paused funding despite “the unsubstantiated nature of the allegations.” UNRWA has warned it is a facing a financial crisis.

The European Union hopes to launch an emergency maritime aid corridor from Cyprus to Gaza this weekend, citing the “dire” humanitarian situation in the enclave.

“We are now very close to the opening of the corridor, hopefully this Saturday, this Sunday, and I’m very glad to see that the initial pilot operation will be launched today,” EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters in Larnaca, Cyprus, on Friday speaking alongside Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides.

She added that for that reason, “the European Commission, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, the Republic of Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States announce our intent to open a maritime corridor to deliver much-needed additional amounts of humanitarian assistance by sea.”

Israel has welcomed the international plan and urged other countries to join the initiative. 

“The Cypriot initiative will allow the increase of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, after security checks are carried out in accordance with Israeli standards,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lior Haiat announced Friday on social media platform X.

Aid slows to a trickle: After the October 7 attacks, Israel put Gaza under siege. Getting any form of relief into Gaza is a long and arduous process, aid workers and the UN say, with the supplies that do get in are not enough to meet the needs of Gaza’s population.

Israel maintains it is doing enough and there is “no limit” to the supplies that can be brought it.

US forces shot down 15 drones launched by the Iranian-backed Houthis over the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden Saturday morning, local time, according to US Central Command.

The action was taken after the Houthis conducted a “large-scale” drone attack.

“Between 4 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. (Sanaa time), Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists conducted a large-scale uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) attack into the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden,” CENTCOM said.

CENTCOM said coalition forces identified the drones and determined they posed an immediate threat to merchant vessels, US Navy and coalition ships.

Coalition naval ships along with aircraft then took out fifteen drones. 

This came three days after the first fatal assault by the Iran-backed militant group in its ongoing assaults in the Red Sea. At least three crew members were killed and four others injured on Wednesday in the Gulf of Aden after a Houthi ballistic missile struck the M/V True Confidence, a Barbados-flagged, Liberian-owned bulk carrier.

Palestinian children walk past rubble in Khan Younis, Gaza, on Friday.

Israel’s deadly military campaign in Gaza has exposed the entire population of more than 2.2 million people to severe hunger, dehydration and disease — with women in particular facing challenges finding food, sanitary products and maternity care.

Additionally, the number of people who have died of dehydration and malnutrition in Gaza has risen to at least 23, according to a spokesperson for the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the enclave.

Israel’s bombardment has also wiped out educational infrastructure. Children in the enclave are expected to lose at least a year of schooling because of the war, according to the United Nations.

Here are other headlines you should know:

Ultra-Orthodox Jewish men walk in the central Israeli city of Bnei Brak on February 27.

Ultra-Orthodox Israelis have long held a privileged position in that society.

Their religious schools, or yeshivas, get generous government subsidies. And yet young men of the Haredim, as they are known in Hebrew, are in all practical terms exempt from mandatory military service.

That exemption has bedeviled Israeli society since its founding. But a legal deadline to come up with a more equitable social compact, at least in the eyes of the Supreme Court, now looms at the end of March.

Powerful members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government have made clear they will not help him kick the can down the road without broad political support.

“This is the one issue that has the biggest potential of bringing down the coalition,” Yohanan Plesner, head of the Israel Democracy Institute (IDI), told CNN.

Ultra-Orthodox Jews view religious study as fundamental to the preservation of Judaism. For many of those who live in Israel, that means study is just as important to Israel’s defense as the military.

In Israel’s nascent days, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion agreed with Haredi rabbis to exempt from military service 400 men studying in religious schools, or yeshivas. In 1948, there were few Haredim in Israel – many were and remain opposed to the state on religious grounds – and the exemption had little practical impact.

In 1998, Israel’s Supreme Court ripped up the longstanding exemption, telling the government that allowing Haredim to get out of conscription violated equal protection principles. In the decades since, successive governments and Knessets have tried to solve the issue, only to be told again and again by the court that their efforts were illegal.

Read more about the brewing clash in Israel over conscription

Editor’s Note: A version of this story appears in CNN’s Meanwhile in the Middle East newsletter, a three-times-a-week look inside the region’s biggest stories. Sign up here.

Angry Israelis cut across a field of stubble to try to get around a police blockade to disrupt shipments of food and supplies intended for Gaza.

For weeks Israeli border officers allowed protesters to disrupt the critical aid convoys at Kerem Shalom, the country’s sole functioning border crossing with Gaza. But at the end of last month, with international pressure and condemnation mounting, authorities announced they were moving additional officers to the crossing to take back control. But even with the area now declared a closed military zone, protesters continue to arrive and try to outmaneuver the police.

The protests are being led by the “Tsav 9” movement, a grouping of demobilized reservists, families of hostages and settlers. Its name, meaning “Order 9,” is a reference to the emergency mobilization notices that call up reservists.

The protesters say they fear the aid is helping militants still holding their friends and relatives hostage, five months after the murderous cross-border raids led by Hamas that killed about 1,200 people in Israel with 200 more being taken prisoner.

They hope preventing food and supplies from entering Gaza will force Hamas to release them. A recent poll by the Israel Democracy Institute found that two-thirds of Jewish Israelis support their view opposing the transfer of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Read more about the protesters seeking to prevent aid getting to Gaza

A Palestinian child suffering from malnutrition receives treatment at a healthcare center in Rafah, in southern Gaza, on March 4. Children and mothers are among those most at risk of severe malnutrition.

The number of people who have died of dehydration and malnutrition in Gaza has risen to at least 23, according to a spokesperson for the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the enclave.

CNN cannot independently confirm the deaths or their causes, due to the lack of international media access to wartime Gaza.

Three more children died Friday at Al-Shifa Hospital due to malnutrition and dehydration, according to Ashraf al-Qidra, a health ministry spokesperson.

Officials with aid organizations and international bodies have warned for weeks that displaced Palestinians are struggling to feed their children as Israel severely restricts aid deliveries. The United Nations says hundreds of thousands of people are on the brink of famine.

US President Joe Biden on Friday cast doubt on the prospect of striking a deal that includes a temporary ceasefire paired with a release of hostages by Ramadan.

Officials had hoped to secure a deal by the start of the Muslim holy month, but talks remain stalled. CNN previously reported hopes had dimmed for deal before Ramadan, which starts early next week.

Medical NGO, Doctors Without Borders, also known as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), called the US plan to build a temporary pier to deliver aid by sea to Gaza a “glaring distraction” from the reality of what’s happening there.

“The US plan for a temporary pier in Gaza to increase the flow of humanitarian aid is a glaring distraction from the real problem: Israel’s indiscriminate and disproportionate military campaign and punishing siege,” said Avril Benoît, US executive director of MSF.

Benoît went on to say that US efforts should instead be placed on pressuring Israel to allow increased food and medical aid into Gaza by road. 

“This is not a logistics problem; it is a political problem. Rather than look to the US military to build a work-around, the US should insist on immediate humanitarian access using the roads and entry points that already exist,” Benoît said. 

Benoît reiterated MSF’s view that a ceasefire “is the only way to ensure a real scale up in emergency assistance” to Gaza. 

More than 30,000 Gazans have been killed and 70,000 injured since the start of the war, the enclave’s health ministry says. Gaza’s health ministry does not distinguish between civilians and fighters, but has said in recent updates that around 70% of the casualties are women and children.  

CNN reached out to the Israel Defense Forces for reaction to Benoît’s comments, but has not yet heard back. 

Israel has previously rejected accusations that it has indiscriminately bombed Gaza, saying its air force has carried out a “precise” and “focused” campaign. Israel has also claimed its objective is to dismantle Hamas after the militant group carried out the October 7 attack that left over 1,200 dead.

A floating pier and causeway that will be used to deliver critical humanitarian aid by sea to Gaza is expected to take at least one month — or possibly two — to become fully operational, Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder said on Friday. Ryder also said the construction will likely require as many as 1,000 US military personnel to complete.

How it will work: The maritime corridor will be used by multiple nations, but the floating pier off the coast of Gaza will be run by the US government and will be constructed by the US military, including Navy and Army personnel.

The pier will allow ships to offload aid, which will then be transported across a causeway into Gaza that will also be constructed by the US military, officials said. The US is still trying to determine who will be on the other side of the causeway to receive the aid and distribute it inside the strip, they said.

How it was developed: The temporary pier concept was developed in part by an organization called Fogbow, according to a person familiar with the planning, which is an advisory group comprised of former military, United Nations, and USAID and CIA personnel.

What Biden is saying: In his announcement on Thursday, US President Joe Biden promised “no US boots will be on the ground.” When pressed Friday by reporters at Joint Base Andrews about who would provide security for the port, Biden said it would be the Israelis.

Biden also told reporters Friday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu needs to allow more aid into Gaza.

Read more about the logistics of the port plan.

CNN’s Kevin Liptak contributed reporting to this post.

The US Defense Department says that none of the US humanitarian airdrops into Gaza on Friday have resulted in civilian casualties.

“Press reports that US airdrops resulted in civilian casualties on the ground are false, as we’ve confirmed that all of our aid bundles landed safely on the ground,” said Pentagon press secretary Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder at a briefing.

At least five people were killed and 10 others injured when aid fell on them, according to a journalist on the scene and a doctor who confirmed the toll. 

Video of apparent malfunction: A video obtained by CNN on Friday shows how an airdrop into the strip went wrong when the parachute on a pallet of aid apparently malfunctioned. In the video, the pallet and its contents can be seen falling at a high speed toward residential buildings near the Fairouz Towers in western Gaza. As the aid raced toward the ground, free-falling bags came apart in a shower of debris, and can later be seen and heard impacting the ground with loud thuds.

Ryder said that with the fourth airdrop on Friday, the total number of meals dropped into Gaza stands at over 124,000.

A satellite image from March 6 reveals that an east-west road being built in Gaza by Israeli military stretches from the Gaza-Israeli border area across the entire roughly 6.5-kilometer-wide (about 4-mile-wide) strip, dividing northern Gaza, including Gaza City, from the south of the enclave. About 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) includes an existing road, while the rest is new, according to CNN’s analysis.

It’s part of a security plan to control the territory for months and possibly years to come, Israeli officials have said.

Israeli Minister for Diaspora Affairs Amichai Chikli told CNN that the new road will “make it easier” for the Israeli military to launch raids north of Gaza City and south, to the central area of the Gaza Strip.

The road, which he said will be used for at least a year, will have three lanes: one for heavy tanks and armored vehicles, another for lighter vehicles and a third for faster movement. It will be possible to drive on the Netzarim Corridor from Be’eri, an Israeli kibbutz near the Gaza border, to the Mediterranean Sea in seven minutes, he said.

A woman walks past the rubble of houses destroyed by Israeli bombardment in Rafah, Gaza, on March 3.

Israel’s deadly military campaign in Gaza since the Hamas-led October 7 attacks has exposed the entire population of more than 2.2 million people to severe hunger, dehydration and disease — with women in particular facing challenges finding food, sanitary products and maternity care.

On International Women’s Day Friday, the Ministry of Health in Gaza issued a statement highlighting the suffering of mothers and daughters in the strip. Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed at least 9,000 women, according to the ministry. On average, 63 women are killed per day, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) reported on Friday. 

According to the UNRWA report: 

Violence in the occupied West Bank: Israel’s offensive in Gaza has spilled into the occupied territory. Israeli forces there have detained 240 women since October 7, in an “unprecedented escalation” compared to previous years, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Society. Among them are journalists, lawyers and university students, the organization said.

The Israeli military’s latest review of the carnage at a food convoy on February 29 undermines key elements of previous Israel Defense Forces statements about the sequence of events.

More than 100 people were killed after Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians who surrounded food aid trucks in northern Gaza last Thursday, according to the health ministry in Gaza.

What the IDF initially said: The Israeli military sought to cast the gunfire from its forces and the aid convoy panic as “two different incidents” at two different locations, and insisted that the gunfire happened only after chaos unfolded. But eyewitnesses on the ground said Israeli gunfire triggered the pandemonium, provoking truck drivers to flee the scene and run over multiple people.

IDF spokesperson Peter Lerner told CNN on February 29 the rush for aid resulted in a “mass casualty event that actually has very little or nothing to do with Israel,” and that the gunfire was “at a different location further south, away from the convoy.”

During a separate background briefing, an IDF spokesperson said: “The truckloads went into the north and then there was the stampede, and afterward there was the event against our forces.”

What the timeline says now: But a timeline released by the Israeli military on Friday says the first Israeli gunfire came about one minute after the aid convoy began to pass an Israeli military checkpoint and crossed into a civilian area of Gaza City. The timeline says thousands of Gazans rushed toward the convoy and IDF troops at the same time.

The IDF statement states that IDF forces fired on people who advanced toward them “during the incidents of crowding.” 

The new IDF timeline closely matches how Khader Al Za’anoun, a local journalist, described what unfolded. At the time, he told CNN that large crowds immediately gathered around the convoy and Israeli forces opened fire within minutes. He said it was the gunfire that triggered truck drivers to flee, and that many were killed in the ensuing chaos.