February 29, 2024 - Israel-Hamas war

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres condemned the carnage at a food aid site in Gaza, where the strip's health ministry said more than 100 people were killed.

Israeli forces opened fire as scores of people were waiting for food, according to the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza. Israel's military and eyewitnesses have provided contradictory accounts of the events on the ground.

The UN was not present during the incident but called for an investigation, Dujarric said. Guterres said later Thursday the deaths would require an effective, independent investigation.

Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Lt. Col. Peter Lerner told CNN the aid trucks involved in Thursday's deadly incidents were from "international aid by governments that came on in private truckloads to move north."

"We need to do everything in order to alleviate the humanitarian situation," he said.  

Guterres said he is also "appalled" by the number of Gazans killed in the war. The health ministry in the strip announced Thursday that the death toll has surpassed 30,000, with over 70,000 injured. "Tragically, an unknown number of people lie under rubble," according to the UN statement.

He reiterated calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and unconditional release of all Israeli hostages in Gaza.

A United Nations Security Council (UNSC) private meeting will take place at 4:15 p.m. ET on Thursday in New York City to discuss the Palestinians who were killed or injured while waiting a food aid convoy in northern Gaza earlier today.

At least 104 people were killed and 760 were injured, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza. Israel Defense Forces troops used live fire as hungry and desperate Palestinian civilians were gathering around food aid trucks, the ministry said. CNN is unable to independently confirm these numbers.

The UN French ambassador will speak at a stakeout at 4 p.m. ET.

The International Criminal Court prosecutor "is aware of the incident" involving a deadly Israeli airstrike revealed by a CNN investigation published Wednesday, his office told CNN.

Karim Khan’s office said it was unable to go into further detail "with respect to specific allegations, in particular due to the confidentiality of its investigations and the imperative to protect witnesses and sources."

The ICC prosecutor has for several years had an open investigation "into the Situation in the State of Palestine."

Responding to CNN’s investigation, the United Nations Secretary-General’s spokesperson on Wednesday called for "a full investigation into what was reported."

US President Joe Biden and Emir Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani of Qatar discussed the "tragic and alarming incident" that left more 100 people killed in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the strip, the White House said on Thursday.

More than 100 people were killed during the chaos, where Israeli troops opened fire and triggered panic as hungry Palestinian civilians were gathering around food aid trucks, Palestinian officials and eyewitnesses said.

On hostages: Biden and Al-Thani also discussed efforts to free remaining hostages held by Hamas, according to the readout.  

“They agreed that Hamas should release the hostages it is holding without delay,” the White House wrote. “The leaders underscored that the release of hostages would result in an immediate and sustained ceasefire in Gaza over a period of at least six weeks. They exchanged views on how such a prolonged period of calm could then be built into something more enduring."

The two also talked about getting more humanitarian assistance into Gaza “and how the ceasefire under the hostage deal would further help enable those efforts and ensure that assistance reached civilians in need throughout Gaza.”

Palestinian factions, some of whom have been at odds for almost two decades, are meeting in Moscow to discuss forming a new government just days after the Palestinian Authority government resigned.

Here's some key things to know:

Fatah: The Palestinian faction is a political party.

Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO): The organization is a coalition of parties that signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1993. The Fatah political party dominates PLO.

Palestinian Authority (PA): The interim Palestinian government that was established in the Israeli-occupied West Bank after the 1993 agreement known as the Oslo Accords was signed. The Fatah political party dominates the PA. The PA has however become deeply unpopular among Palestinians, and is seen as corrupt and unable to provide security in the face of regular Israeli military incursions. It is also under intense pressure from the United States to reform.

Hamas: The militant group is attending the talks, according to Russian media. It is not part of the PLO and does not recognize Israel. It won the 2006 legislative elections in the occupied territories and has since ruled Gaza.

Can Hamas unite under the PLO: “The incorporation of Hamas, along with other factions that are outside the PLO, is an essential step for the reform and revival of the PLO,” said Khaled Elgindy, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington DC. “Otherwise, the PLO cannot legitimately claim to be truly representative.”

If Hamas joins PLO, will it automatically recognize Israel: Despite the PLO’s recognition of Israel, Hamas joining the bloc wouldn’t mean that it would automatically acknowledge it, Elgindy said, adding, “It could – and likely would – constrain the kinds of concessions that the PLO might make in any future diplomatic process with Israel.”

Remember: Hamas has said in the past that it is willing to accept a Palestinian state on the territories Israel captured in the 1967 war, but has ruled out recognition of Israel.

What is the objective of the meeting in Moscow: The objective of the two-day talks is to unite the factions under the Palestine Liberation Organization, and form a new government in the Palestinian Authority (PA), according to a spokesperson for Fatah. However, Elgindy says the main hurdles to Hamas joining the PLO would be how much power it would get in the grouping, and how to deal with its weapons and fighters. The negotiations will require Fatah and Hamas “to relinquish a measure of power in the interest of national unity.”

CNN’s Abbas Al Lawati, Matog Saleh and Celine Alkhaldi contributed to this report.

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

CNN is unable to independently confirm the death toll, and the Israeli military has given a different account of the circumstances.

What we know: The carnage unfolded early Thursday when a group of trucks carrying desperately needed aid arrived at Haroun Al Rasheed Street in western Gaza City, in the Sheikh Ajleen neighborhood.

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

As the aid trucks tried to escape the area, others were accidentally rammed, causing further deaths and injuries, an eyewitness told CNN.

A local journalist in Gaza, Khader Al Za’anoun, who was at the scene and witnessed the incident, said the chaos and confusion that led to people being hit by the trucks only started once Israeli forces opened fire.

What the IDF says: An Israeli official told CNN IDF troops did use live fire on people surrounding 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."

Israeli government spokesperson Avi Hyman also told reporters that the incident was "obviously a tragedy, but we're not sure of the specifics quite yet."

What Hamas says:

Hamas senior member Izzat Al-Risheq warned that Thursday's incident could lead to the failure of ongoing talks aiming at the release of hostages and a ceasefire.

Here's what else you need to know:

This post has been updated with CNN's latest reporting on the carnage at a Gaza food aid site.

Jordanian Armed Forces said it conducted two airdrops of humanitarian relief to northern Gaza Thursday.

It was carried out in cooperation with Bahrain and Oman, Jordan said.

Jordan carried out a coordinated airdrop in the north, but windy conditions caused some supplies to land on the Israeli side of the border, an Israeli military spokesperson said at a briefing Thursday.

US President Joe Biden says his administration is looking into what happened at a food distribution site in Gaza — where local health officials say more than 100 people were killed and hundreds more injured — and he admitted the incident is going to complicate negotiations in the region. 

“We’re checking that out right now; there are two competing versions of what happened. I don’t have an answer yet,” the president told CNN’s Arlette Saenz at the White House on Thursday. 

Asked by Saenz if he worried the deaths would complicate negotiations, he responded: “Oh, I know it will.” 

But Biden still expressed optimism that a deal on the hostages and a potential ceasefire could be reached soon. 

A White House official confirmed that Biden spoke with the leaders of Egypt and Qatar on Thursday. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also spoke with his Qatari counterpart Thursday, according to a source.

A senior Biden administration official said that the incident has made US officials feel even more pressure to help get a hostages-ceasefire deal across the finish line. The situation “gives even added urgency to the process,” the official told CNN Thursday morning.

Some context: Earlier this week, Biden commented that a deal could be reached by the end of the weekend. Officials from Israel, Hamas and Qatar all distanced themselves from his optimism that a hostage-for-ceasefire deal in Gaza could be reached by the end of this week.

The United Nations aid chief warned on Thursday that life is “draining out of Gaza at terrifying speed,” after more than 100 people were killed and hundreds were injured while waiting for aid, according to the Palestinian health ministry in the strip.

The UN aid chief added he was “appalled at the reported killing and injury of hundreds of people during a transfer of aid supplies west of Gaza City today.”