March 20, 2024 Israel-Hamas war

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

US and coalition forces destroyed one drone and one unmanned surface vessel launched by Houthis in Yemen on Wednesday, according to US Central Command.

A coalition aircraft destroyed the drone and US forces destroyed the unmanned surface vessel, CENTCOM said in a statement.

There were no injuries or damage to US or coalition ships, CENTCOM said.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on March 20.

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Jeddah on Wednesday and discussed the urgent need for a cessation of hostilities in Gaza.

According to Saudi state-run SPA news, MBS and Blinken discussed “developments in the Gaza Strip and its surroundings in addition to efforts to stop military operations.” 

They also discussed the security and humanitarian situation in the region, SPA said.

Diplomatic tour: Blinken, who is on a trip in the Middle East, said negotiations to secure a ceasefire in the war in Gaza tied to the release of hostages held by Hamas are “getting closer” to a deal.

Blinken will travel to Egypt to meet with Arab leaders on Thursday and head to Israel on Friday.

Smoke rises during an Israeli raid at Al Shifa hospital and the area around it in Gaza City on Wednesday, March 20.

Israel’s response to Hamas’ latest counterproposal on a ceasefire and hostage release deal “was negative in general” and did not meet the demands of Hamas, according to Hamas spokesperson Osama Hamdan.

“In fact, they backed away from agreements previously made to the mediators,” Hamdan said.

Here are some other key developments:

Negotiations to secure an immediate ceasefire tied to the release of hostages held by Hamas are “getting closer” to a deal, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday.

Blinken did not give details about what gaps were narrowing or what undergirded his confidence that an agreement is possible. He again reiterated that the onus is on Hamas to accept the proposal that is on the table.

“We have to see if Hamas can say yes to the proposal. If it does — if it does — that’s the most immediate way to alleviate the misery of people in Gaza, which is very much what we want,” he said.

Blinken, who will travel to Egypt to meet with Arab leaders Thursday, said that it is important to be ready “for what happens with the governance of Gaza” after the war ends.

Israel’s Supreme Court has temporarily halted a government plan to send a group of Palestinian patients being treated in East Jerusalem and Tel Aviv hospitals back to Gaza.

The decision follows a petition by the Israeli non-profit organization Physicians for Human Rights Israel, which decided to take action following a CNN report on the Palestinian hospital patients.

Following the group’s appeal, the Israeli Supreme Court issued a temporary injunction to prevent the Israeli government from sending around two dozen Palestinian patients and their companions back to Gaza.

The Palestinians were set to be bussed to Gaza early Thursday morning. However, after the temporary court injunction, the Israeli government delayed that until at least Monday, hospital officials told CNN.

This post has been updated with information from Israeli officials.

Israeli forces detained Palestinian journalists and health workers, blindfolded them and stripped them down to their underwear in Al-Shifa Hospital, in northern Gaza, according to eyewitness accounts shared with CNN.

The Israeli military raided Al-Shifa after it claimed “senior Hamas terrorists” were using the facility to “conduct and promote terrorist activity.” It claims to have detained a senior Hamas operative during the operation.

CNN cannot independently verify the IDF’s statements.

Dr. Marwan Abu Saada, head of surgery at Al-Shifa, was not at the hospital when the Israeli raid began on Monday. He said on Tuesday that colleagues who had been permitted to leave the hospital reported Israeli troops breaking into most of the hospital buildings.

He said male medical staff were forced to strip and left “for hours in the cold,” an assertion made by other men who have been released from the area.

CNN has asked the IDF for its response to the allegations levied by Saada. The IDF has not so far responded.

Read more accounts from Al-Shifa Hospital.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on March 20.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud emphasized the importance of continuing regional partnerships in getting humanitarian aid to Gaza and eventually resolving the conflict.

The two leaders “discussed the urgent need to protect all civilians in Gaza” and immediately increase the flow of aid, according to a readout from their Jeddah meeting by State Department spokesperson Matt Miller.

US officials have been working to lay the groundwork for such a “sustained peace” for months, with the idea that this facilitates a Saudi-Israel normalization agreement. 

On his recent trips to the region, Blinken has stressed that the Israeli government must make “difficult” decisions and move toward a two-state solution if it wants to achieve that normalization with Saudi Arabia and if it wants the support of its Arab neighbors for security and reconstruction in Gaza. 

The top US diplomat will meet Saudi Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman on Wednesday. 

During his address to the Senate Republican policy lunch Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was sharply critical of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s comments calling for elections to form a new government in Israel.

“We made it clear to the prime minister that in our judgment, the American people overwhelmingly support Israel’s war,” Kennedy said. “And he made clear he intends to prosecute the war against Hamas to the full extent of his power” 

Kennedy said Netanyahu spoke for about 15 minutes via video link to the GOP meeting in the Capitol, and then took about 45 minutes of questions. 

Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz said Netanyahu was not critical of Biden.

Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri, said Netanyahu was “candid” and “thorough” and said the Israeli leader gave a “pretty detailed update” of the war, answering questions about the prosecution of the war and explaining what Israel’s needs are from the US.   

Hawley said Netanyahu was “very mindful” of concerns over civilian deaths and “talked about it at some length” and was “alert to the sensitives” over that issue, even talking about the estimated death toll of Palestinians.  

“He wanted to project that the end is in sight,” Hawley said. “By far the greatest portion of this war is over.”  

Netanyahu told the senators he does not envision US troops getting directly involved in combat. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer pushed back on Republican criticism of his Israel speech, in which he called for the US ally to hold new elections. 

More on Schumer’s speech: Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer pushed back on Republican criticism of his Israel speech, in which he called for the US ally to hold new elections. 

Israel’s response to Hamas’ latest counterproposal on a ceasefire and hostage release deal “was negative in general” and did not meet the demands of Hamas, according to Hamas spokesperson Osama Hamdan.

Israel’s response “was negative in general and did not meet the demands of our people and their resistance. In fact, they backed away from agreements previously made to the mediators,” Hamdan said at press conference in Beirut on Wednesday.

He also said it was a “continuation of their policy of procrastination, which could hamper the negotiations or even lead them to a dead end.”

More context: On March 14, Hamas delivered a counterproposal that included the release of Israeli hostages for 700 to 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called the Hamas proposal “unrealistic.”

The Canadian government has indefinitely suspended arms exports to Israel, according to the Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. 

“The export permits approved between October 7th and January 8th have been shared with the parliamentary committee studying this matter. Since January 8th, the government has not approved new arms export permits to Israel and this will continue until we can ensure full compliance with our export regime,” the statement continued. 

Export permits that were approved before January 8 are still in effect, according to the Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Remember: CNN previously reported that Canada had paused exports of non-lethal military equipment and technology to Israel in January given the risk of human rights violations. 

An aircraft airdrops humanitarian aid over northern Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Wednesday, March 20.

A growing number of infants in Gaza are on the “brink of death” from acute hunger, the World Health Organization said, issuing another grim warning this week about the deteriorating humanitarian situation.

Meanwhile, international entities and aid organizations are working to get supplies and funding to provide humanitarian assistance to the enclave.

Saudi Arabia announced it will provide $40 million in funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the main UN aid agency for Palestinians in Gaza, the kingdom announced on Wednesday.

The United Kingdom’s largest aid delivery to Gaza entered the enclave, the British Foreign Office said Wednesday. More than 2,000 tonnes of food aid that entered Gaza via the Jordanian land corridor were being distributed by the World Food Programme and will feed “more than 275,000 people,” the office said.

Israel also announced that 248 humanitarian aid trucks entered Gaza on Tuesday, according to a statement from Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT).

The US and Jordanian militaries conducted another airdrop of humanitarian assistance into northern Gaza on Wednesday, US Central Command said in a statement. Jordan said it carried out six airdrops of food into the northern strip.

The United Nations human rights chief has said Israel’s sustained restrictions on aid to Gaza may amount to the war crime of starvation. 

Here are the latest headlines:

An Israeli drone strike in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin killed at least three people and left one person seriously injured, according to the Palestine Red Crecent Society (PRCS).

The three people who died were militants with the Jenin battalion of Al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad organization, PRCS said on its Telegram channel.

The attack occurred near Ibn Sina hospital in Jenin, PRCS’s director in Jenin, Mahmoud Al-Saadi, told CNN.

The injured individual, who was not identified, is in critical condition with burns all over their body, Al-Saadi said.

The Israel Defense Forces and Israel Security Agency said in a statement that an aircraft struck “terrorist operatives” inside a vehicle in the area of Jenin. The IDF and ISA allege that one of the militants killed Israeli settler Meir Tamari in 2023 near the Israeli settlement of Hermesh in the occupied West Bank.

CNN cannot independently verify these allegations.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and House Speaker Mike Johnson.

US House Speaker Mike Johnson is considering inviting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to address Congress after House members raised the idea in their closed-door conference meeting this morning. 

Johnson said he had a “lengthy” conversation with Netanyahu this morning but said “those logistics” did not come up. The news was first reported by Axios.

An invitation to address a joint session of Congress would require buy-in from Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who sharply criticized Netanyahu in a floor speech last week when he also called for Israel to hold new elections.

The consideration of having Netanyahu also comes as additional military aid to Israel appears stalled on Capitol Hill. The House passed a standalone military aid bill to Israel in November that the Senate did not advance because the House bill offset the cost with cuts to the Internal Revenue Service. The Senate passed a bill with aid to Ukraine and Israel in February, but Johnson has made no effort to put that legislation up for a vote as House Republicans have mulled several alternatives for sending aid overseas.

This post has been updated with additional information.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken waves as he departs Philippines en route to Saudi Arabia, at Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines, on March 20.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is not expected to participate in upcoming conversations with Israeli officials about Rafah in Washington, DC, according to the State Department. Deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel suggested that the talks will be at more of a working level. 

CNN reported Tuesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s close confidant Ron Dermer — currently a member of Israel’s war cabinet and a former ambassador to the United States — and Israeli national security adviser Tzachi Hanegbi will travel to DC for discussions with US officials.  

The US has been calling on Israel to explain how it intends to keep safe over 1 million Palestinians who are seeking refuge in southern Gaza, as Israel warns that it will soon launch a military offensive into Rafah.

Asked by CNN if the US would be willing to provide resources to Israel to protect the civilian population in Rafah, Patel did not foreclose the possibility, but noted he would not get ahead of the talks with Israeli officials.  

Smoke rises during an Israeli raid at Al-Shifa hospital and the area around it in Gaza City, on March 20.

The Israeli military has detained a senior Hamas operative allegedly involved in the kidnap and murder of three boys in 2014 during its ongoing operation at Al-Shifa Hospital, it said.

The Israel Defense Forces said that, along with the Israeli Security Agency, it arrested Mahmoud Qawasmeh, who it alleged to be a planner and financier of the infrastructure that carried out the boys’ kidnapping and murder.

In 2014, high school students Naftali Frankel, Gil-ad Shaar and Eyal Yifrah were abducted in the area of Gush Etzion in the occupied West Bank while trying to hitch a ride home.

Qawasmeh had been deported to the Gaza Strip as part of an exchange in 2011 in which hundreds of Palestinian prisoners were released in return for the freedom of an Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit, who had been kidnapped by Hamas and taken into Gaza in 2006. 

The IDF said Qawasmeh had been involved in “directing terrorist activities of Hamas” in the West Bank, “including a number of shooting terror attacks carried out in recent years.”

The IDF has also released new video of its operations around Al-Shifa. It said weapons had been located and about 350 suspects apprehended during the raid.

An Israeli nonprofit organization is preparing to petition Israel’s Supreme Court on Wednesday to prevent the Israeli government from sending Palestinian patients being treated in East Jerusalem hospitals back to Gaza.

Physicians for Human Rights Israel decided to take action following a CNN report on the Palestinians, according to Ran Yaron, the organization’s spokesperson.

Around two dozen Palestinian patients and their companions are set to be bused to Gaza early Thursday morning, but their removal has already twice been delayed for unknown reasons.

Among the Palestinians, who were granted access to the hospitals by Israeli authorities before October 7, are five newborn babies and their mothers, cancer patients now in remission, and a few companions, according to hospital officials.

Hospital officials say they have largely been communicating with the Israeli agency coordinating the departure — Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) — by phone.

Keep reading about the efforts for Palestinian patients.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in Jerusalem, on February 18.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has spoken about his conversation with US President Joe Biden in his latest update to Israeli citizens.

The pair spoke for the first time in more than a month on Monday, as a rift deepen between the two men over the war in Gaza.

“At the very beginning, we agreed that Hamas should be eliminated. But during the war, it’s no secret, we had differences of opinion about the best way to achieve this goal.”

“There have been times when we have agreed with our friends, and there have been times when we have not agreed with them,” he said.

Netanyahu said he told Biden it was impossible to defeat Hamas without the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) entering Rafah.

An Israeli delegation is due to travel to Washington in the next week for discussions on those proposals, according to US and Israeli officials. 

Netanyahu said Israel “always did what was essential for our safety, and we will do so this time as well.” But he suggested an operation into Rafah was not imminent.

The prime minister added that his government will soon approve a plan for the evacuation of civilians from Rafah – and that an Israeli military operation into the area would proceed “to complete the victory over Hamas.”

Saudi Arabia will provide $40 million in funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the main UN aid agency for Palestinians in Gaza, the kingdom announced in a news release on Wednesday.

Dr. Abdullah Al Rabeeah, the supervisor general of the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center (KSRelief), signed an agreement with UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini on Wednesday.

The funding will provide food for more than 250,000 people and tents for 20,000 families, according to officials.

The announcement comes as hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are on the brink of famine, with only a trickle of aid continues coming into the enclave, according to the UN. 

“It is crucial to address the desperate needs of the people in Gaza. KSrelief remains committed to supporting these efforts to deliver humanitarian assistance in this difficult time,” Al Rabeeah said in a statement.

More background: UNRWA has seen an increased need for funding after many countries suspended payments following allegations by Israel that some of UNRWA’s staff were involved in Hamas’ October 7 attack.

UNRWA fired several employees after the allegations and launched an investigation, but some of UNRWA’s top donors — including the United States — have not resumed funding the organization.

In November 2023, KSrelief provided a $15 million payment to UNRWA to provide humanitarian assistance, including food and medicine.

NA high-level delegation of four critical-care doctors, Professor Nick Maynard, second left, Doctor Zaher Sahloul, Doctor Thaer Ahmad and Doctor Amber Alayyan who have worked on the frontlines of medical care in Gaza talks to the press at the United Nations in New York, United States on March 19.

A British surgeon who has spent years volunteering in Gaza’s hospitals said he was not “remotely prepared” for what he saw on his latest visit to the strip.

Dr. Nick Maynard, who was in Gaza in December and January, told a media briefing at the United Nations on Tuesday: “I saw things at Al-Aqsa Hospital which I still wake up at night thinking about. Appalling injuries, in particularly women and children. The most devastating burns in small children.”

Maynard was one of four doctors speaking after recent visits to the Gaza Strip.

The delegation hopes to raise the severity of the humanitarian situation with members of Congress and the United States State Department. Maynard told CNN that the delegation – which represents Medical Aid for Palestinians, Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), and MedGlobal – would be meeting with officials of US President Joe Biden’s administration on Friday.

Aid agencies have accused Israel of impeding the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza, an allegation that Israel has repeatedly denied.