May 28, 2024 - Israel-Hamas war

Our live coverage of Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza has moved here.

Nikki Haley visits Kibbutz Nir Oz, Israel, on May 27.

Former UN ambassador Nikki Haley wrote “Finish Them!” on Israeli artillery shells during a Memorial Day visit to Israel, according to photos in a post from Danny Danon, a former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, who accompanied her on the trip.

Her visit to the northern Israeli border came a day after an Israeli strike that killed 45 at a camp for displaced Palestinians in Rafah. Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu described the strike as “a tragic error”.

Haley’s message echoes her previous sentiment during a Fox News interview in which she condemned Hamas’ attacks and called on Netanyahu to “finish them.”

CNN has reached out to representatives for Haley for comment.

She also reaffirmed her commitment to Israel, saying during the tour, saying “Don’t listen to what is being said in the media. I reassure you: America stands with Israel!”

During the Memorial Day weekend trip, Haley visited Kibbutz Nir Oz, the site of the Nova festival, and Sderot.

She reflected in a social media post about a nurse she met whose “life changed forever’ after October 7.

“When she escaped, she tried to treat victims who were butchered and left to slowly die. Now, she bravely tells her story to bear witness for the hundreds who can’t — raped, tortured, kidnapped, and murdered simply for being Israeli,” she continued.

Algeria has circulated to all UN Security Council members a proposed draft resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the unconditional release of all hostages, a UN diplomat told CNN on Tuesday.

It’s unknown how the US will vote on this.

Algeria’s draft resolution comes after 45 people were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a Rafah camp housing displaced people on Sunday.

A Greek owned and operated merchant ship in the Red Sea reported being struck by three anti-ship ballistic missiles launched Tuesday by Iranian-backed Houthis in Yemen, according to US Central Command.

Merchant Vessel Laax continued on its voyage and there were no injuries reported, CENTCOM said in a statement.

During the same time, US forces destroyed five Houthi drones over the Red Sea that were launched from a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen and “presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels in the region,” the statement added.

At least 940,000 people have been displaced from Rafah in the past three weeks as a result of “the intensification of hostilities and issuance of evacuation orders” by Israeli forces, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA).

Many of the displaced Palestinians are attempting to evacuate following devastating Israeli strikes – but they don’t know where to go.

Here are more headlines you should know:

More on the Rafah strike:

International reaction to the Rafah strike:

Other Israeli attacks:

Broken pier:

US-made munitions were used in a deadly Israeli strike on a camp for displaced Palestinians in Rafah, a CNN analysis of video from the scene and a review by explosive weapons experts found. 

CNN geolocated videos showing tents in flames in the aftermath of the strike on the camp for internally displaced people (IDPs) known as “Kuwait Peace Camp 1.”

In video shared on social media, which CNN geolocated to the same scene by matching details including the camp’s entrance sign and the tiles on the ground, the tail of a US-made GBU-39 small-diameter bomb (SDB) is visible, according to four explosive weapons experts who reviewed the video for CNN.

The GBU-39, manufactured by Boeing, is a high-precision munition “designed to attack strategically important point targets,” and result in low collateral damage, explosive weapons expert Chris Cobb-Smith told CNN.

However, “using any munition, even of this size, will always incur risks in a densely populated area,” said Cobb-Smith, a former British Army artillery officer.   

Trevor Ball, a former US Army senior explosive ordnance disposal team member who also identified the fragment as being from a GBU-39, explained to CNN how he drew his conclusion.  

CNN’s identification of the munition is consistent with a claim made by Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari in a briefing about the tragedy on Tuesday. Hagari said the strike – which he said targeted senior Hamas commanders – used two munitions with small warheads containing 17 kilos of explosives, adding these bombs were “the smallest munitions that our jets could use.”

The traditional GBU-39 warhead has an explosive payload of 17 kilos.  

Additionally, serial numbers on the remnants match those for a manufacturer of GBU-39 parts based in California – more evidence the bombs were made in the US.  

The Pentagon declined to comment and referred CNN to comments from Israel on its operation. CNN has also reached out to the US National Security Council.

Read the full story.

Nicolas de Rivière speaks to press at UN Headquarters in New York on November 6, 2023.

French UN Ambassador Nicolas de Rivière warned of any further escalations in Rafah, saying “it is high time,” for the UN Security Council (UNSC) “to take action and to adopt a new resolution” about the war in Gaza.

He added that the Security Council “must fulfill its mandate and take action now,”

“It must allow the UN to play its full role in the Gaza Strip, in order to cover the immediate needs of the population,” he said.

“France will remain committed to building a state for the Palestinians and security guarantees for Israel,” Rivière added.

The situation in Rafah is “very miserable,” according to a doctor currently working in the southern Gaza city.

“All night, we couldn’t sleep,” Dr. Safa Jaber told Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF (Médecins Sans Frontières), in an Arabic audio message shared by the group on X with English subtitles.

Palestinians flee from Rafah on Tuesday.

Displaced Palestinians are attempting to evacuate following devastating Israeli strikes in southern Gaza – but they don’t know where to go.

Speaking to a CNN stringer in Khan Younis, north of Rafah, people said they did not know where else to go, as they tried to head north toward Deir El-Balah in central Gaza.

Video from the stringer shows mattresses, wooden panels, chairs, and various other belongings piled on top of vehicles and donkey carts.

The roads, lined by tents and piles of garbage, were busy with people and vehicles moving in search of empty spaces.

Walking on crutches, Mohamed Jarbou, said, “The elderly have been humiliated. Children humiliated. What’s wrong? They are all civilians. The resistance is not here. The resistance is fighting somewhere else. We are displaced. Why are you hitting the displaced people?”

Israeli strikes over the past two days in Rafah have forced the already displaced people to flee.

More than two dozen people were killed in Israel strikes on two camps on Tuesday, according to Palestinian officials.

The Israeli military denied striking a humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi, telling CNN, “Contrary to the reports from the last few hours, the IDF did not strike in the Humanitarian Area in Al-Mawasi.”

CNN has asked if the military struck elsewhere in Al-Mawasi, and for comment on a strike that hit the Tal al-Sultan camp.

The Israeli military is looking into the possibility that Sunday’s strike on Rafah may have unintentionally set off possible stored weapons in a nearby compound and a large fire that decimated part of a camp housing displaced Palestinians, according to spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari.

Hagari described it as one of several possibilities and did not provide any verifiable evidence to bolster the claim.

He also said Israel is assessing social media footage from the night of the strike that appears to show secondary explosions.

Hagari then played the audio of an allegedly intercepted call, described by the Israel Defense Forces as “between two Gazans about the strike in Rafah.”

An unidentified speaker says an ammunition warehouse exploded, causing secondary explosions. The unknown speaker also said the Israeli strike was “small” and did not create a large crater.

CNN cannot independently verify the authenticity of the audio, when it was recorded, or what information the speakers in the audio had. 

Hagari said the incident was being investigated by the General Staff’s Fact-Finding and Assessment Mechanism who he said would conduct a transparent investigation.

CNN posed a follow-up question to Hagari, about whether Israel could confirm that none of the civilians killed were killed in the initial Israeli strike, only in the ensuing secondary explosions or the fire.

Hagari could not confirm that, repeating that the investigation was ongoing.  

Pro-Palestinian protesters are seen at Republic Square in Paris on Tuesday.

Protesters in cities across Europe gathered to voice opposition to the deadly strike carried out Sunday by Israel on a camp housing displaced people in Rafah in southern Gaza.

In Paris, a huge crowd congregated in Place de la République, a famous spot for protests. The demonstrators then marched to the nearby Canal Saint Martin, according to a CNN producer in Paris. 

Large crowds also gathered outside the home of UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on London’s Downing Street. 

In social media videos, they could be heard chanting slogans, “Blood on your hands” and “Stop arming Israel” in the direction of Downing Street. 

Sunak has faced intense pressure in recent months from campaigners and opposition lawmakers to stop selling arms to Israel. 

In Italy, at least 1,000 protesters occupied Bologna’s main train station, according to the authority of the train station.

The protesters marched from the university district to the station and caused delays across the region, according to Italy’s national railway company.

Mourners are seen in a vehicle next to the bodies of Palestinians killed in an Israeli strike in Rafah on Monday.

White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Tuesday that Sunday’s airstrike that killed dozens of people at a camp for displaced Palestinians in Rafah, Gaza, did not cross President Joe Biden’s red line.

Kirby added that he had “no policy changes to speak to” when asked if this strike would change policy – but emphasized that this strike “just happened.”

At least 45 people were killed and more than 200 others injured after a fire broke out at the camp following the strike on Sunday, most of them women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry and Palestinian medics.

When asked whether the president has seen some of the images from Rafah over the weekend, Kirby said he could not speak on that but that the president has been “kept apprised throughout the weekend.” 

Footage obtained by CNN showed the camp in flames, with scores of men, women and children frantically trying to find cover from the nighttime assault. Burned bodies, including those of children, could be seen being pulled by rescuers from the wreckage. 

Pressed on whether Israel tanks seen in central Rafah constitute a major ground operation, Kirby pointed to comments from the Israelis saying that they are operating in Rafah in a “targeted” and “precise” way.

“That’s what the Israelis have said, we’re not on the ground,” Kirby told reporters.  

Palestinians fleeing southern Rafah on Tuesday.

At least 940,000 people have been displaced from Rafah in the past three weeks as a result of “the intensification of hostilities and issuance of evacuation orders” by Israeli forces, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA).

“Attacks on Rafah have continued unabated, and civilians displaced by hostilities lack shelter, they lack food, they lack water and other supplies essential to their human survival,” UNOCHA said in a statement Tuesday read by Deputy UN spokesman Farhan Haq.

“While the Kerem Shalom crossing remains open in principle, it is extremely difficult for aid organizations to access from the Gaza side due to the hostilities, challenging logistical conditions, and complex coordination procedures,” UNOCHA said, citing aid workers in Gaza.

At least 29 Palestinians have been killed in two separate Israeli attacks in Rafah on Tuesday, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health and the Emergency Committee of the Rafah Governorate.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) told CNN on Tuesday that its forces are “operating to dismantle Hamas military and administrative capabilities.”

“In stark contrast to Hamas’ intentional attacks on Israeli men, women and children, the IDF follows international law and takes feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm,” the IDF added.

Destroyed makeshift tents are seen after Israeli airstrikes near UNRWA warehouses in Rafah on Tuesday.

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said his staff are “terrified” and are packing up and moving following strikes in Tal al-Sultan in the early hours of Tuesday.

Lazzarini said the main offices of the UN in Gaza are in the Tal al-Sultan area and that most of the staff could not make it to work.

“UNRWA running out of medical supplies and basic medicines. Little to no electricity with very patchy internet as the telecommunications network continues to be interrupted. People search for safety to no avail,” he said.

Some context: Officials in Gaza and residents said an Israeli attack happened at around 3 a.m. on Tuesday (local time) in Tal al-Sultan camp in western Rafah, hitting three tents and killing at least eight people.

CNN has reached out to the IDF for comment.

Palestinians mourn over the bodies of relatives killed in an Israeli airstrike at a morgue in Rafah on Monday.

Residents of the Tal al-Sultan displacement camp in western Rafah have recounted to CNN the horrifying scenes that followed an Israeli strike Tuesday, which according to Palestinian and UN officials killed eight people.

Video of the aftermath from a CNN stringer shows torn up tents, burnt sheets of metal and a clutter of furniture and clothing thrown on the ground. Walls are pierced with holes and the wooden structures holding up the tents are completely damaged.

CNN has reached out to the IDF regarding the strike, but has not received a response.

One resident, Hind Al-Ashqar, told CNN she was asleep with her family when she awoke to the sound of her neighbors screaming.

Hind Al-Ashqar.

“Our children were terrified; I have a 5-year-old that was so horrified. We were all scared, children and adults,” she said.

Al-Ashqar’s daughter Ayat said she ran out of their tent to check on their neighbors, some of whom were her relatives, only to find them dead on the ground.

“I was so terrified to see the remains of people. We have been displaced and living in nylon tents. We see remains and body parts of martyrs, we see the strikes and shrapnel hitting us. If we were in our homes, we wouldn’t be afraid of shrapnel. But inside tents, any shrapnel can hit us and even burn us,” Ayat continued.

Another resident, Imad, pulled out the remains of a person while rummaging through the torn-up tents, saying “this is the safe place they talk about.”

Another resident, Mohammed, told CNN people were asleep when they were killed, including his cousin. He said he has been picking up dead bodies of children and body parts since the morning, pointing to his blood-stained shirt.

“Instead of waking up and saying thank God, we woke up and picked up body parts…. every day there is a war. Enough is enough…the whole world is living freely and happily except us. Why? How is the whole world unable to stop Israel and Netanyahu?” he said.

A displaced woman Suhad told a CNN stringer she had been sheltering in a nearby camp when she heard there had been a strike on her brother’s camp.

Suhad.

“I didn’t sleep all night. I was told he was martyred, then he wasn’t. He was martyred, then he wasn’t.

She said her brother’s four daughters, the youngest three months old, survived but were injured.

CNN stringer video from the scene shows dozens of people dismantling the remains of their makeshift tents, gathering what’s left of their belongings and loading them onto trucks and donkey carts. They told a CNN stringer on the ground that they are forced to flee again, some for the sixth time, out of fear of being killed.

“We were in the North, they struck our home, and my dad was martyred. They said go east of the valley, we went to Nuseirat. They hit Nuseirat, we fled to Khan Younis. They entered Khan Younis, we fled to Rafah. After they entered Rafah, we wanted to go back to Khan Younis. God knows where we shall go next. There is no safe place in Gaza,” Mohammed said.

Another man, wearing a gray baseball cap, said, “For God’s sake, look at us, show us some respect. We want nothing from you. We want to live like in all other countries. We want freedom. We want stability… We are not beggars waiting for aid. The people of Palestine are not a field for experimentation. Enough, enough.”  

A Maxar Technologies satellite image, taken on Tuesday afternoon, right, shows a large section of the floating pier is missing. A May 18 satellite image, also from Maxar Technologies, left, shows how the pier is supposed to look. 

The temporary pier constructed by the US military to transport aid into Gaza broke apart in heavy seas on Tuesday in a major blow to the American-led effort to create a maritime corridor for humanitarian supplies into the war-torn enclave, according to four US officials,

Part of the pier, which consists of a narrow causeway to drive aid into Gaza and a wider parking area to drop off supplies transported by ship, disconnected on Tuesday, the officials said. The parking area will have to be reconnected to the causeway before the pier can be used again.

The setback came one day after heavy seas forced two small US Army vessels to beach in Israel, according to US Central Command, while another two vessels broke free of their moorings and were anchored near the pier.

The effort to reassemble the causeway and connect it once again to the parking area will resume when sea conditions allow, officials said.

The temporary pier, called the Joint Logistics Over the Shore (JLOTS), requires very good sea conditions to operate. CNN reported previously that JLOTS can only be operated safely in a maximum of 3-foot waves and winds less than approximately 15 miles per hour.

Heavier sea conditions delayed the deployment of the pier for several weeks, as the system sat docked in the Israeli port of Ashdod waiting for favorable conditions.

The US has stressed that the temporary pier is only meant to augment humanitarian shipments going through the land crossings between Israel and Gaza.

On Thursday, Vice Admiral Brad Cooper, deputy commander of US Central Command, said 820 metric tonnes of aid had been delivered through the pier to the Gaza beach, where the United Nations was responsible for distributing it to the Palestinian population

Daniel Dieckhaus, the director of USAID’s levant response management team, told reporters Thursday that there were “thousands and thousands of tonnes” of aid waiting in Cyprus to be delivered through the maritime corridor. But those shipments are now paused with the temporary pier inoperable.

Displaced Palestinians inspect their tents destroyed by an Israeli airstrike in Rafah on Tuesday.

The United States “will be watching” the results of the Israeli investigation into the deadly strike and subsequent fire in Rafah “closely,” State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Tuesday, saying that the findings should be “presented openly and transparently to us and to the world.”

Miller said the US will withhold its assessments until it sees the final findings of Israel’s investigation.

“As soon as the United States saw reports of this incident, we reached out to the government of Israel to express our deep concern over what happened, ask for more information and urge them to undertake a full investigation,” he said.

“Earlier today, Israel announced the results of a preliminary investigation and said that this strike was carried out using the smallest bomb in their arsenal, targeting terrorists 1.7 kilometers (1 mile) away from the Al Mawasi area, where this fire took place,” Miller said.

“The IDF is continuing to investigate this matter (and has) promised that its investigation will be swift, comprehensive and transparent. We will be watching those results closely. And we will continue to emphasize to Israel their obligation to comply fully with international humanitarian law, minimize the impact of their operations on civilians, and maximize the flow of humanitarian assistance to those in need,” he said.

Miller added that it is important to “find out what the actual cause of the fire is,” noting the Israeli claim that there might a weapons depot nearby.

Some background: At least 45 people were killed and 200 others were injured in the strike. Video from the site showed scenes of horror: charred bodies being pulled from rubble, a man holding the headless body of a child, fire raging from tents in the background.

At least 29 Palestinians have been killed in two separate Israeli attacks in Rafah on Tuesday, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health and the Emergency Committee of the Rafah Governorate.

The first attack happened at around 3 a.m. on Tuesday (local time) in Tal al-Sultan displacement camp in western Rafah when a strike hit three tents, according to residents and a CNN stringer in Rafah. At least eight people were killed and transferred to a field hospital in Tal Al-Sultan camp, according to the committee.

The Tal al-Sultan camp is located next to a UN warehouse, whose walls were damaged from the strike according to video from a CNN stringer on the ground. The camp that was hit on Tuesday is about 150 meters away from another displacement camp that an Israeli strike and ensuing fire hit just two days ago, killing at least 45 people and wounding more than 200 others. 

Video from CNN’s stringer on the ground shows displaced people dismantling their makeshift living arrangements in Tal al-Sultan camp, and gathering their belongings and evacuating the area on trucks and donkey carts.

Gaza’s Ministry of Health says a second attack happened on Tuesday afternoon local time when an Israeli strike hit a displacement camp in the southern coastal town of Al-Mawasi, killing at least 21 people, including 13 women, and injuring at least 64 people with 10 in critical condition.

However, the Israeli military has denied striking a humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi.

It told CNN in a statement: “Contrary to the reports from the last few hours, the IDF did not strike in the humanitarian area in Al-Mawasi.”

CNN has followed up, asking if the IDF has struck elsewhere in Al-Mawasi, such as the UN warehouse that is in the vicinity of the camp, but has not received a reply.

This post has been updated to include a response from the IDF.

Israeli tanks have been seen in central Rafah for the first time in Israel’s seven-month war against Hamas, signaling a new phase of its offensive as Israel presses on despite mounting international pressure.

The ground offensive comes just days after Israel launched an airstrike on a displacement camp in the southern Gaza city, killing dozens and sparking global outrage.

Meanwhile, three European countries on Tuesday recognized a Palestinian state, and others are considering taking the same step.

Here are the latest developments:

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) are operating in Rafah in a “targeted” and “precise” way, spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Tuesday, in response to a question on reports of tanks advancing in the southern Gazan city.

“Today, and the day before, we’ve again detected tunnels along the Philadelphi Corridor, those are tunnels going to Sinai,” he added.

Hagari said the IDF is demolishing the tunnels into Sinai and speaking with the Egyptian government. His comments came shortly after eyewitnesses told CNN that Israeli tanks had reached the center of Rafah – a first in the seven-month war.

Some context: The Philadelphi Corridor is a 14-kilometer (about 8.7-mile) long and 100-meter-wide strip of land running along the border between Gaza and Egypt. Israeli troops moved into the corridor and took control of the Rafah crossing earlier this month.