February 29, 2024 - Israel-Hamas war

Many of the casualties in the chaos that erupted in Gaza at a food distribution site were killed as a result of being run over by aid trucks as they tried to escape Israeli fire, according to a local journalist in Gaza, Khader Al Za'anoun.

Al Za'anoun, who was at the scene and witnessed the incident, told CNN that, though large crowds were waiting for food to be distributed from aid trucks, the chaos and confusion that led to people being hit by the trucks only started once Israeli soldiers opened fire. 

"Most of the people that were killed were rammed by the aid trucks during the chaos and while trying to escape the Israeli gunfire," he said.

He said that around 20 were killed directly by the gunfire, and the rest were killed under the aid trucks' wheels.

Israeli government spokesperson Avi Hyman told reporters that people in Gaza who were killed while waiting in line for humanitarian aid are "obviously a tragedy, but we're not sure of the specifics quite yet."

What we know: At least 104 people were killed, and 760 injured after IDF troops used live fire as hungry Palestinian civilians were gathering around food aid trucks, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza. 

CNN is unable to independently confirm these numbers.

Civilians had swarmed around newly arrived aid trucks hoping to get food, when Israeli tanks and drones started shooting at the people in Haroun Al Rasheed Street in western Gaza City, in the Sheikh Ajleen area.

What Israel says: An Israeli official told CNN IDF troops did use live fire on people surrounding the aid truck as "the crowd approached the forces in a manner that posed a threat to the troops, who responded to the threat with live fire. The incident is under review."

"I can tell you this is a developing situation," Hyman told reporters.

"At some point, the trucks were overwhelmed and the people driving the trucks, which were Gazan civilian drivers plowed into the crowds of people ultimately killing as my understanding is tens of people. I don't have anything more specific to that. It is unfolding," Hyman said.

Hamas senior member Izzat Al-Risheq warned that the killing of people collecting aid from trucks in Gaza could lead to the failure of ongoing talks aiming at the release of hostages and a ceasefire.

“Negotiations are not an open process,” he said in a statement published by the Hamas on Telegram. 

“We will not allow for the pathway of the negotiations…[to become] a cover for the enemy’s continued crimes against our people in the Gaza Strip,” Al-Risheq said. 

At least 104 people were killed and 760 injured on Thursday in a chaotic incident where IDF troops opened fire as hungry Palestinian civilians were gathering around food aid trucks, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza.

CNN is unable to independently confirm these numbers. The IDF said, "the incident is under review."

More than 100 people were killed in northern Gaza where Israeli troops opened fire, triggering panic as hungry Palestinian civilians were gathering around food aid trucks, Palestinian officials and eyewitnesses said.

People had swarmed around newly arrived aid trucks in western Gaza City in the hope of getting food, when Israeli forces started shooting, according to witnesses. Many of the victims died when they were run over by trucks, according to one account.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza said 104 were killed and more than 700 injured in the incident, one of the deadliest since the war in Gaza began. CNN is unable to independently confirm the figures and the Israeli military has given a different account of the circumstances.

In a briefing on Thursday, an Israeli military spokesperson said he couldn’t confirm the death toll.

What we know: A group of trucks carrying desperately needed aid arrived at Haroun Al Rasheed Street in western Gaza City, in the Sheikh Ajleen neighbourhood, early Friday.

A local journalist in Gaza, Khader Al Za’anoun, who was at the scene and witnessed the incident, said large crowds had gathered waiting for food to be distributed from aid trucks. But he said that the chaos and confusion that led to people being hit by the trucks only started once Israeli forces opened fire.

An Israeli military spokesperson disputed the Palestinian account of events in a briefing later Thursday, and said there were two separate incidents involving aid trucks.

First, he says trucks went to the north and were swarmed by crowds, with trucks running over people. Subsequently, he says, a group of Palestinians approached Israeli forces, who then opened fire on the Palestinians.

The IDF spokesperson Daniel Hargari said at a press conference Thursday there was no strike on the aid convoy. “I want to repeat that. No IDF strike was conducted towards the aid convoy. On the contrary the IDF was there conducting a humanitarian operation,” he said.

This post has been updated with CNN's latest reporting.

Protestors holding Israeli flags at the Kerem Shalom border crossing between Israel and Gaza Strip appear to have blocked aid shipments into Gaza on Thursday, videos obtained by CNN show. 

Videos show a line of aid trucks reversing away from the crossing, obstructing the deliverance of humanitarian shipments to the territory.

Dozens of people stand by the lorries, surrounded by Israeli flags, with some holding placards demanding the release of hostages. The extent of the disruption is unclear. 

On Monday, the Commissioner-General of The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said humanitarian aid deliveries into Gaza have declined by 50% compared to January. On Tuesday, UN humanitarian officials said over half a million people in Gaza are “one step away from famine." 

Tsav 9, the group behind the protests, said Thursday that they will “continue with all our strength, to block the oxygen for the Nukhba terrorists with our bodies.”

“No aid goes through until the last of the abductees returns,” the group added. 

Tsav 9 have been protesting at the crossing since late January. 

CNN’s Ibrahim Dahman, Mohammed Tawfeeq and Lucas Lilieholm contributed to this report.

Families of hostages in Gaza have started the second day of their long-distance march from southern Israel's Re'im to Jerusalem, repeating their calls for the release of those captured during the October 7 attack.

The families will be joined by former hostages, survivors of the Hamas attack, and the public. 

The group started the four-day March on Wednesday from the site of the Nova festival in Re'im.

Some background: Hamas militants stormed the Nova festival on October 7 in an attack that killed over 360 people.

In the attacks on Israel that day, 1,200 people were killed and more than 240 were taken hostage.

There are believed to be 130 hostages still in Gaza, of which 99 are believed to be alive.

Pressure is mounting for a hostage-for-ceasefire deal in Gaza, with negotiations ongoing.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Wednesday, according to statements released by their respective offices.

Austin asked for Gallant's "assessment of negotiations for the release of hostages held by Hamas," according to a statement from Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder.

The two also discussed the urgent need for more humanitarian assistance to reach Palestinian civilians and the need to facilitate new routes for aid into northern Gaza, according to the Pentagon's statement.

Gallant emphasized the importance of US leadership and international pressure to achieve "a framework that will enable the return of hostages," the Israeli minister's office said.

Gallant also briefed Austin on the destruction of "dozens of kilometers" of Hamas tunnels in Gaza.

Gallant also detailed attacks by Hezbollah on Israel's northern border, saying that Israel will not tolerate threats against its citizens and violations of its sovereignty, and "will take the measures required to ensure their security."

More than 30,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel’s war with Hamas began in October, the health ministry in the besieged enclave said Thursday.

The towering figure underscores a horrific, months-long ordeal for Palestinians in the territory, during which Israel’s bombing and ground campaigns have displaced the vast majority of the population and created a dire humanitarian crisis.

Israel is facing mounting pressure globally to halt the conflict, but its campaign in Gaza has retained the support of the United States, its key ally and largest supplier of military aid.

The US proposed a “temporary ceasefire” at the United Nations earlier this month, but has vetoed calls for an immediate halt in the conflict.

The death toll highlights fears of more suffering in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city where more than 1 million people are crammed, and where Israel is expected to launch a fresh offensive.

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.

Israel estimates about 10,000 Hamas fighters have been killed since October 7, when Israel declared war on the militant group. More than 1,200 people in Israel were killed during Hamas’ attacks on that day, and more than 250 were kidnapped and taken hostage in Gaza.

CNN cannot independently verify the casualty tolls in Gaza or the Israeli estimates of Hamas fighters killed.

Read more about the rising death toll as a result of Israel's war with Hamas.

US administration and intelligence officials are concerned that Israel is planning a ground incursion into Lebanon that could be launched in the coming months if diplomatic efforts fail to push Hezbollah back from the northern border with Israel, senior administration officials and officials familiar with the intelligence said.

While a final Israeli decision has yet to be made, the worry is acute enough inside the Biden administration that the prospect of an incursion has made its way into intelligence briefings for senior administration officials, according to one person who received a briefing and was told an operation could happen early summer.

The leadership of Hezbollah, a powerful Iran-backed paramilitary group, has expressed support for Palestinians and condemned Israel's offensive in Gaza.

There have been months of daily, deadly cross-border strikes by both Israel and Hezbollah that have displaced tens of thousands of Lebanese and Israeli residents from their homes. Israel has fired artillery and launched jets and drones to strike targets while Hezbollah has used some of its vast arsenal of rockets and missiles.

While the US is a key mediator in discussions over a pause in the fighting in Gaza, the Biden administration has also been leading parallel discussions with Israeli and Lebanese officials that if successful would create a miles-wide buffer zone inside southern Lebanon. That deal would likely postpone an Israeli incursion, US officials believe.

Read the full story here.