Israel-Gaza updates: Israel says ground operation underway in southern Gaza

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered on Saturday at the first anti-government protest held in Tel Aviv since Oct. 7.

"We don't want a radical government. We didn't want it before, and we don't want it now," Moshe Radman, who helped organize the protest, told ABC News. "We are telling them we want a new government as soon as possible."

Radman says people were scared to protest in the early days of the war -- but that things have changed in the last few weeks. He predicts the demonstrations will grow.

"We gave them 57 days, and week after week we saw that they are not doing the right thing. And I think we understand that we are headed towards a long war, so we have to do it now," he said.

Protesters Sharon and Eyal Eshel said their 19-year-old daughter Roni, an Israel Defense Forces soldier, was killed in the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants while stationed at the Nahal Oz kibbutz. Her family said they have yet to receive a single phone call from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"We are looking for answers, we want answers from the IDF, we want answers from the government. And we want the man who is in charge, we need him to take responsibility," Sharon Eshel told ABC News.

"It's not the time to say, 'It's not the time,'" Eyal Eshel told ABC News, calling on Netanyahu to sit down with him and answer his questions. "Enough is enough."

In response to criticism and pool polling numbers, Netanyahu has previously said he has no plans of stepping down.

-ABC News' Dragana Jovanovic, Dorit Long, Kuba Kaminski and Ines De La Cuetara

Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin called on Congress to pass aid to Israel and Ukraine during a keynote speech Saturday at the Reagan National Defense Forum in California.

He said support for Israel's security is "non-negotiable."

"We still urgently need bipartisan support in Congress to pass the supplemental to rush security assistance to our partners in Ukraine, in Israel and elsewhere," he said.

Austin said peace is "not self-executing" and that America should remain involved and in leadership.

"From Russia to China, from Hamas to Iran, our rivals and foes want to divide and weaken the United States -- and to split us off from our allies and partners," he said. "So at this hinge in history, America must not waver."

-ABC News' Kelly Livingston

While in Dubai for the COP28 meetings, Vice President Kamala Harris met with Arab leaders -- United Arab Emirates President Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed, Jordan's King Abdullah, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, and Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani -- to discuss what Gaza will look like once the fighting stops.

"We all want this conflict to end as soon as possible, and to ensure Israel's security, and ensure security for the Palestinian people, we must accelerate efforts to build an enduring peace," Harris said.

In addition to the five principles in President Joe Biden's Washington Post op-ed, the Vice President laid out three new focus points she discussed to ensure the success of long-lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians, which will also require "regional consensus and support" to accomplish.

"One, reconstruction. The international community must dedicate significant resources to support short- and long-term recovery in Gaza," Harris said.

"Second, security. The Palestinian Authority security forces must be strengthened to eventually assume security responsibilities in Gaza. Until then, there must be security arrangements that are acceptable to Israel, the people of Gaza, the Palestinian Authority, and the international partners," Harris said.

"Third, governance. The Palestinian Authority must be revitalized, driven by the will of the Palestinian people, which will allow them to benefit from the rule of law and a transparent responsive government," Harris said.

Harris refused to go into details but remains hopeful for another pause. Harris also said that Israel must limit as many civilian casualties as possible.

"As Israel defends itself, it matters how. The United States is unequivocal; international humanitarian law must be respected. Too many innocent Palestinians have been killed. Frankly, the scale of civilian suffering, and the images and videos coming from Gaza are devastating," Harris said.

-ABC News' Tia Humphries

Israel plans to put in place "security arrangements" along the fringes of the Gaza strip to ensure that Hamas could not threaten the country again, Mark Regev, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's adviser, told reporters Saturday.

"Call it what you want," Regev told ABC News in an interview after the briefing. "Israel will have to have a security envelope."

Regev told reporters that Israel does not plan to take territory from Gaza or occupy the strip, but he spoke about establishing "security zones."

"There will have to be security arrangements on the ground to prevent future attacks," Regev told the briefing.

-ABC News' Tom Soufi Burridge and Angus Hines