Hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated on Sunday.
Hamas responded Friday to President Donald Trump's proposal for peace in Gaza, as the president gave a deadline of 6 p.m. ET Sunday to sign on to the plan he unveiled earlier this week.
Hamas said it will release all remaining hostages if Israel withdraws from Gaza and "proper field conditions are met." More negotiations will need to take place to finalize the deal, which Trump unveiled Monday while hosting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.
Any agreement could mean an end to the Israel Defense Forces' operation to take control of Gaza City, the largest urban area in the Gaza Strip.
Multiple Western nations recognized Palestinian statehood in recent weeks while also demanding that Hamas not be part of any future government.
Netanyahu said that Israel will not allow an independent Palestinian state to exist.
The Global Sumud Flotilla carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza could jeopardize peace negotiations for the strip, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Wednesday.
Italian naval assets that were very involved with the Flotilla after it suffered a drone attack have since pulled back, enhancing danger for the boats.
Meloni called the flotilla "risky" and "irresponsible."
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Tuesday that creates a national security guarantee with Qatar, saying that any armed attack on Qatar will be considered a threat to the U.S.
The order is sweeping, saying that "the United States shall regard any armed attack on the territory, sovereignty, or critical infrastructure of the State of Qatar as a threat to the peace and security of the United States."
In the event of an attack, the order says that the U.S. will "take all lawful and appropriate measures — including diplomatic, economic, and, if necessary, military — to defend the interests of the United States and of the State of Qatar and to restore peace and stability."
The order directs the U.S. secretary of state, defense secretary and the director of national intelligence to make a contingency plan with Qatari officials "to ensure a rapid and coordinated response to any foreign aggression against the State of Qatar."
The order comes after an Israeli strike on Qatari soil last month. After Israel's strike on Qatar, the White House said that Trump spoke to the Qatari emir and prime minister and assured them that such a thing will not happen again on their soil.
Iran also fired missiles at a U.S. military base inside Qatar in June.
-ABC News' Michelle Stoddart
Israel Defense Forces continue to operate at "full force" in Gaza City, the Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said Wednesday, warning that Israel will tighten the siege around city and anyone leaving it will be forced to pass through checkpoints.
"This is a last chance for Gaza residents who are interested in moving south and leaving Hamas terrorists isolated in Gaza City itself in the face of IDF activity that continues at full strength," Katz said.
"Those who remain in Gaza will be terrorists and supporters of terror," Katz said.
Israeli forces killed 51 Palestinians and wounded 180 others in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, Gaza's Hamas-run Ministry of Health said Wednesday afternoon.
That brings the Palestinian death toll in Gaza since the ongoing war began on Oct. 7, 2023, to 66,148, according to the health ministry.
Among those killed over the past day were four people trying to collect humanitarian aid, while 57 others were injured, the health ministry said.
Two people, including a child, also starved to death over the past 24 hours, the ministry said on Wednesday.
That brings the total number of starvation deaths since Oct. 7, 2023, to 455, including 151 children, according to the health ministry.
-ABC News' Samy Zyara and Morgan Winsor
