March 30, 2024 - Israel-Hamas war

Thousands of protesters took to the streets in the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Caesarea, Raanana and Herzliya on Saturday, demanding the release of all hostages held in Gaza and for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be removed from office.

Demonstrations held at Kaplan Street in Tel Aviv also called for a general election to be held immediately. A video from the rally shows police officers attempting to push protesters at the Begin Gate, one of the entry gates to the Kirya military headquarters in the city.

"No one leaves! We will march to Jerusalem and remain there, until the government disbands," one banner read.

In a separate rally held at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, survivors of Hamas captivity urged Israeli authorities to immediately bring home all the hostages still held in Gaza.

Freed hostage Aviva Siegel, whose husband Keith Siegel remains in Gaza, called on Israeli authorities to "take responsibility" and put more effort into releasing her spouse and other hostages held by Hamas and other militant groups in the strip. 

Many hostage rally supporters continue to march through the streets of Tel Aviv on Saturday night.

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said in a statement Saturday that the gathering will be relocated next week to Jerusalem in front of the Knesset, Israel's parliament.

In the coastal city of Caesarea, protesters walked around police barricades to march toward Netanyahu's residence, chanting: "There is no forgiveness for the angel of destruction" and "there is no forgiveness for failures and abandonment."

This post has been updated with additional information about scenes from the protests.

Negotiations over a ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Cairo on Sunday, Egypt’s state-run Al-Qahera News reported on Saturday, citing a security source.

"Egypt and the UAE continue their joint efforts to achieve progress in the negotiations between the two sides," the security source added, according to Al-Qahera News. 

CNN is reaching out to the Israeli government as well as Hamas.

Remember: Earlier this month, talks over the release of hostages and a humanitarian pause were held in Qatar. On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu authorized an Israeli negotiating delegation to travel to Qatar and Egypt in the coming days.

Nearly 400 tons of food aid are expected to arrive in Gaza by ship in the coming days, according to the non-governmental organization arranging the deliveries.

The aid will be provided to people in the northern part of the strip, said Juan Camilo, a community outreach manager with World Central Kitchen.

The Open Arms, a salvage vessel that delivered aid to Gaza earlier this month, is towing a barge, while a cargo vessel, the Jennifer, is also carrying aid, Camilo said.

World Central Kitchen said the vessels were also carrying machinery to speed up the process of offloading the ships, and that it was delivering dates provided by the United Arab Emirates for Palestinians observing Ramadan.

A ship facilitating a food aid delivery to Gaza has left port in Cyprus and embarked on its second mission to the enclave.

The Open Arms, a Spanish-flagged salvage vessel, set sail from the Cypriot port of Larnaca on Saturday, according to Oscar Camps, the founder of a charitable organization that owns the vessel.

The operation to transport aid to Gaza by sea is led by World Central Kitchen, a non-governmental organization that already launched an aid shipment from Cyprus earlier this month.

The Open Arms' second voyage to Gaza will see “hundreds of tons of food” transported to the strip, according to Camps. The ship is normally a search and rescue vessel used by the NGO Open Arms.

Earlier this month, World Central Kitchen said almost 200 tons of aid were delivered by ship in an operation conducted with the Emirati government and Open Arms, with support from Cyprus.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has admitted killing two Palestinian men and burying their bodies with a bulldozer after Al Jazeera published a video purportedly showing the incident Wednesday. 

The men approached its "operational area" in central Gaza “in a suspicious manner” and didn’t respond to a warning shot, the IDF said in a statement to CNN. The Israelis killed them and bulldozed their bodies fearing they carried explosives, it said.

What the video shows: In the video, which is filmed from a distance and has been heavily edited, two men are seen walking along a beach in Gaza, apart from one another; both appear to be waving white flags, to symbolize surrender, as they cautiously approach a group of Israeli soldiers. The video shows one man walking toward the soldiers with his hands in the air. He passes out of view behind some sand and concrete. It's not clear what happens to him next. The second man turns away from the soldiers. As he hurriedly walks away from the camera, he is seen being followed by an Israeli armored vehicle. Suddenly, he falls to the sand, apparently shot. 

The video then cuts to another angle, a location that CNN has been unable to geolocate, where an Israeli military bulldozer is seen unceremoniously burying two bodies in sand and debris. It’s not clear whether the bodies shown in the second half of the film are the two men who were filmed at the start of the sequence. Al Jazeera claims the bodies are the same men.

Al Jazeera said in its commentary that the "giant bulldozer shovels the two bodies and buries them in sand and litter. The Israeli soldiers attempt to conceal the executions."

CNN has asked Al Jazeera for an unedited copy of the footage. Al Jazeera said the incident happened near Al Rasheed Street in central Gaza. CNN geolocated the video and confirmed it showed the incident at the beach. Additional visual evidence – satellite imagery and videos – shows Israeli military engineering vehicles such as bulldozers were deployed there.

What Israel said: The edited video "represents two different incidents," the IDF said.

"The first incident occurred in the southern part of the corridor. After the suspect did not respond to a warning shot, the (force) fired to his direction and he was shot and slightly wounded," the IDF said, adding he was released after receiving medical treatment and questioning. 

The second incident occurred in the northern part of the corridor and the two suspects were fired at after approaching Israeli forces "in a suspicious manner," the IDF said.

Israeli police says 16 people have been arrested on suspicion of “incitement and identification with terrorism and terrorists” in Jerusalem's Old City following Friday prayers.

The incident took place at the holy site known as the Temple Mount by Jews and as the Haram ash-Shairf complex by Muslims. It is home to the Western Wall and the al-Aqsa mosque, important places of worship for Jews and Muslims, respectively. The site has long been a flashpoint in tensions between Israelis and Palestinians.

Police said that after the conclusion of the evening and dawn prayers on Friday and Saturday “some individuals took advantage of this situation to engage in incitement and express support for terrorism.” 

“Following various investigation operations, suspects were located, including 16 who have already been arrested, and additional suspects who will be arrested," the statement read.

The police alleged “that among the incitement calls, which lasted for a relatively short period of time, there were also expressions of support for the Hamas terrorist organization and its leaders, calls to harm Jews, and encouragement for the Hezbollah terrorist organization to fire at Tel Aviv.”

While calls to support Hamas and hurt Jews are illegal in Israel, there has seemingly been less tolerance for criticism of the Israeli military since October 7. Dozens of Palestinian residents and citizens of Israel have been arrested in Israel for expressing solidarity with Gaza and its civilian population. 

About 9,000 patients stuck in Gaza require urgent evacuation abroad, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Saturday.

With health care infrastructure all but collapsed in Gaza, thousands need treatment for cancer and kidney dialysis, as well as for injuries sustained during the conflict, Tedros said on X.

The WHO chief said more than 3,400 have already been evacuated, but many more are awaiting Israeli approval to leave.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said Friday that Gaza's partially functional hospitals can only provide "limited services" and are overwhelmed with patients. They are also facing "critical shortages of fuel, medicines, medical supplies, and health personnel.” 

It added that more than 400 attacks on health care infrastructure in the Gaza Strip had been documented by WHO as of March 12, affecting some 100 ambulances and nearly 100 health facilities.

Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of hiding behind civilians in Gaza's hospitals and other medical facilities, allegations the militant group denies.

The Israel Defense Forces told CNN that a review is underway into the circumstances of the killing of a 13-year old boy in a town in the occupied West Bank.

The IDF told CNN that “during joint IDF and Israel Border Police activity in the town of Qabatiya, a number of terrorists opened fire at forces operating in the area, who responded with live fire toward the terrorists. Hits were identified.”

“After the counterterrorism activity, a report was received regarding a Palestinian minor who was pronounced dead. The circumstances of the incident are under review," the IDF said.

Four peacekeepers affiliated with the United Nations' peacekeeping mission in Lebanon were injured in an explosion on Saturday morning.

The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) told CNN that three military observers and a local language assistant had been hurt in a blast while they were on a foot patrol near the Blue Line, the demarcation of the border between Israel and Lebanon.

The four injured people were evacuated for medical treatment, UNIFIL said.

UNIFIL said it was "investigating the origin of the explosion."

Lebanese media reported that a UN vehicle in southern Lebanon was hit by an Israeli drone strike on Saturday, a claim which the Israeli military promptly denied.