February 28, 2024 - Israel-Hamas war

Our live coverage of Israel's war with Hamas has moved here.

The New Zealand government designated all of Hamas as a “terrorist entity” on Thursday, broadening its policy on the Islamist group.

The country now considers Hamas' political wing a "terrorist entity". It designated the military wing of Hamas a "terrorist entity" in 2010.

“What happened on 7 October reinforces we can no longer distinguish between the military and political wings of Hamas,” New Zealand’s Foreign Minister Winston Peters said.

He said that the “organisation as a whole bears responsibility for these horrific terrorist attacks.”

The move means that any assets of Hamas in New Zealand will be frozen, and any financial or property transactions or material support to Hamas is now a criminal offense in the country.

Calls to end violence: New Zealand’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon clarified that “this designation targets Hamas, not the provision of private humanitarian support to Palestinian civilians.”

It will also not hinder New Zealand's efforts to provide humanitarian and development assistance to the civilians in Gaza, Luxon said.

Consular support to New Zealand citizens or permanent residents in the conflict zone will also not be affected.

Peters said that Wellington remains “gravely concerned” about the impact of the conflict on civilians in Gaza and called “for an end to the violence and an urgent resumption of the Middle East Peace Process.”

The United States is considering possibility of airdropping aid into Gaza as the humanitarian crisis there worsens and as aid fails to reach people in the war-torn strip, two US officials told CNN Wednesday.

US officials have consistently said that much more must be done in order for critically-necessary assistance to reach people in Gaza, where more than 2 million people are at “imminent risk” of famine, according to the United Nations. 

One US official said the prospect of airdrops is being seriously considered based on conditions on the ground. Axios first reported that the US is exploring the move.

Earlier this week, Jordan, Egypt, the UAE, Qatar and France airdropped relief aid on various areas in the Gaza Strip in a sign of how desperate the situation has become. 

Top US officials have called on Israel to open additional crossings to allow aid to enter Gaza, as the flow of trucks into the enclave trickled down to less than 100 per day last week, according to Samantha Power, administrator for the US Agency for International Development.

Power met on Wednesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, one of the US officials told CNN.

At least 20 people died following Israeli airstrikes on buildings in central Gaza Wednesday evening local time, according to health officials at Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

The health officials did not provide further details but said the death toll could rise, as many people remain under the rubble. 

Several witnesses told CNN Wednesday that airstrikes hit residential buildings in Al Bureij and Nuseirat, in central Gaza.

CNN cannot independently verify the number of casualties.

A video obtained by CNN from Al-Aqsa Hospital shows a number of deceased people being brought from the area to the facility. It shows the bodies of several people being wrapped in white cloths. The footage showed family members weeping and crying hysterically near the bodies. 

The video also shows several wounded people being carried on stretchers.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) responded to CNN about Wednesday's deadly central Gaza strikes saying, "The IDF struck a target of the terrorist organization Hamas at the time and location described. A tunnel is also known to be there.”

This post has been updated with the latest comments from the IDF.

A German warship accidentally fired on a US drone over the Red Sea on Tuesday, mistaking it as a Houthi drone, according to a US defense official familiar with the incident.  

The Hessen, a German frigate that was operating in the Red Sea as part of an EU effort to safeguard the critical waterway, fired on the US MQ-9 drone, but missed it, the official said.

It was unclear what weapon the frigate fired at the US drone, the official said. 

On Tuesday, Germany's armed forces said on social media that the Hessen engaged two unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs.)

In both cases, the German military said the frigate “initiated defensive measures” and successfully “fought” the drones.

The German military’s statement did not mention mistakenly firing at the US drone. 

Germany said the ship was operating as part of EUNAVFOR ASPIDES, the European Union military operation to safeguard commercial vessels in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. The EU operation works alongside Operation Prosperity Guardian, the US mission to protect commercial shipping in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.

In a statement about the same incident on Tuesday evening, US Central Command said US aircraft and a "coalition warship" shot down five Houthi one-way attack drones in the Red Sea. Central Command did not name the ship or its country, but the US defense official confirmed to CNN that this ship was the Hessen.

Officials from Israel, Hamas and Qatar have distanced themselves from US President Joe Biden's comments after he projected optimism that a hostage-for-ceasefire deal in Gaza could be reached by the end of this week, 

Earlier this week, CNN reported Hamas had backed off some key demands in the negotiations for a deal and pause in the fighting in Gaza, bringing the negotiating parties closer to an initial agreement that could halt the fighting and see a group of Israeli hostages released, according to two sources familiar with the discussions.

Here are other headlines you should know:

At least two people were killed and 14 others wounded as a result of Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon Wednesday night local time, according to Lebanon's state-run NNA news. 

The airstrikes hit areas in the towns Kafra and Seddiqine, situated near the border with Israel, NNA said. 

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a short statement Wednesday night that "IDF fighter jets struck Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure in the areas of Kafra and Seddiqine in southern Lebanon."

Some context: According to figures released by the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health on February 23, at least 199 people have been killed and 941 people have been wounded since October 8 as a result of "Israeli aggression against southern Lebanon."

Nearly 90,000 people have been displaced from areas and towns close to the border with Israel since the conflict started, the Lebanese health ministry said in its report. 

The United States called on Israel to sign a letter pledging it will not commit human rights violations with US weapons, State Department spokesperson Matt Miller confirmed. He noted the request is not specific to Israel, but applies to all nations who receive US military assistance.

He said the letter calls on countries receiving US assistance to "provide us written assurances that recipients, number one, will use the weapons in accordance with the US with a law of war and, number two, will facilitate and not arbitrarily deny or restrict humanitarian assistance."

More context: Israel has come under immense scrutiny for the way it has prosecuted its war in Gaza. Tens of thousands of people have been killed and US officials have repeatedly called on Israel to do more to decrease the death toll. There are growing calls from Congress to condition military aid to Israel. Nations around the world are sounding the alarm against a potential military offensive in Rafah, where more than a million people have been displaced.

Miller previously confirmed that the US is assessing civilian harm from US weapons in Israel.

At least six children died in recent days as a result of dehydration and malnutrition in Gaza, according to a statement from the Ministry of Health in Gaza. 

At least four children died at Kamal Adwan Hospital in the past few days, and two children died at the Al-Shifa Medical Complex on Wednesday, the health ministry and a local doctor said.

"Another baby died today as a result of malnutrition at Kamal Adwan Hospital, which is the only pediatrics hospital in northern Gaza," Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the acting director and head of the pediatrics at Kamal Adwan Hospital, said in a statement Wednesday.

Safiya said the generators would stop working tonight because of the hospital's fuel shortage, "which means our incubators and oxygen supply will stop and only will run on solar panels during the day."

Safiya also pointed out the lack of medical aid and baby formula in the hospital and said babies are getting milk that's "diluted and not concentrated" every five or six hours instead of the recommended three to four hours.

Mothers are unable to produce natural milk "due to dehydration and lack of nutritional food," Safiya said.